Dimensioning and barcode reading system

ABSTRACT

A system and method for auto-calibrating a barcode scanning tunnel to determine the orientation of one or more cameras with respect to a range finder and a conveyor belt comprises providing a scanning tunnel having a moveable surface, at least one range finder having an orientation, at least one camera having an orientation and at least one calibration object having at least one indicia disposed in a predetermined relationship to one or more features of the at least one calibration object, capturing at least one image of the at least one calibration object by the at least one camera, electronically detecting the at least one calibration object at least one indicia and the one or more object features and electronically calculating at least one component of the at least one camera orientation with respect to the moveable surface in response to information obtained from the image and the at least one calibration object at least one indicia.

The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 60/980,360, filed Oct. 16, 2007, entitledDIMENSIONING AND BARCODE READING SYSTEM, the entire disclosure of whichis incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to conveyor systems and, moreparticularly, to conveyor systems having networked components.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Referring to art FIG. 1, a known dimensioning system 10 includes aconveyor system 12 that moves items along a path of travel, and acomponent system 14 adjacent to the conveyor system that tracks packagesbeing moved by the conveyor system. Conveyor system 12 includes a numberof rollers 16, a belt 24, a bed 18 and a tachometer 20. It should beunderstood that the conveyor can move the items through the path oftravel by means other than belts, for example by driven rollers. Rollers16 are motor-driven rollers that move conveyor belt 24 in a directiondenoted by arrows 26 over bed 18, which provides support to the belt.For purposes of the present discussion, the direction corresponding tothe start of conveyor system 12 is referred to as “upstream,” whereasthe direction in which conveyor belt 24 moves is referred to as“downstream.”

Tachometer 20 is beneath and in contact with the surface of conveyorbelt 24 and rotates with the belt as the belt moves in the direction ofarrows 26. As tachometer 20 rotates, it outputs a signal comprising of aseries of pulses corresponding to the conveyor belt's linear movementand speed. Tachometer 20, and other devices that provide signalscorresponding to the rate of movement of a conveyor belt, from which thelocations of items moving in a path of travel along the belt can bedetermined, should be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art.In general, the number of pulses output by tachometer 20 corresponds tothe linear distance traveled by the belt, while pulse frequencycorresponds to the belt's speed. The number of tachometer pulses perunit of measurement defines the resolution of the tachometer and itsability to precisely measure the distance that the conveyor belt hasmoved. Tachometer 20 may be replaced by a shaft encoder, particularlywhere less accurate measurements are needed.

Component system 14 includes a dimensioner 28, a plurality of barcodescanners 32, and a computer 36, all of which are attached to a frame 38.Frame 38 supports dimensioner 28 and at least one barcode scanner 32horizontally above conveyor belt 24 so that beams of light emitted bythe dimensioner and scanners intersect the top surfaces of packagesmoved by the belt. Frame 38 also supports additional scanners 32vertically adjacent to conveyor belt 24 so that beams of light emittedby these scanners intersect the side, back, front or bottom surfaces ofpackages moved by the belt. One example of prior art scanners includeQUAD X laser barcode scanners manufactured by Accu-Sort Systems, Inc. ofTelford, Pa., although it should be understood that cameras or othersuitable barcode readers could be used, depending on the needs of agiven system.

As should be understood in this art, dimensioner 28 detects one or moredimensions of an item on a conveyor. The dimensioner is disposed alongthe conveyor at a known position relative to the bar code readers. Whena package moving along the conveyor reaches the dimensioner, thedimensioner processor opens a package record, determines height widthand length, associates that data in the package record, and outputs thedimension data to the system processor in association with tachometerdata that corresponds to the package's location at the dimensioner. Uponreceiving the dimensioner data, the system processor opens a packagerecord and associates with the package record the dimension andtachometer data received from the dimensioner.

The system processor also sets an open read window variable and a closeread window variable for the barcode scanner. The open read windowvariable for the barcode scanner is equal to the tachometer value forthe downstream-most point on the package, plus a known distance (intachometer pulses) between the dimensioner and a predetermined positionin the path of travel with respect to the barcode scanner. The closeread window variable for the barcode scanner is equal to the tachometervalue for the upstream-most point on the package, plus a known distance(in tachometer pulses) between the dimensioner and the predeterminedposition with respect to the barcode scanner.

As should be understood in this art, barcode reader 32 may comprise alaser scanner that projects a plurality of laser lines on the belt, forexample in a series of “X” patterns. The scanner outputs a signal thatincludes barcode information reflected back from the laser lines and abarcode count, which indicates the position in the X patterns at whichgiven barcode information was seen. Thus, the barcode count provides thelateral position on the belt, and the longitudinal position with respectto the centerline of the X patterns, corresponding to the barcodeinformation. The barcode scanner assembly has a photodetector disposedalong the conveyor immediately upstream from the X patterns. A processorat barcode scanner assembly 32 monitors the photodetector's outputsignal and thereby determines when the package's front and back edgespass the photodetector. The barcode scanner also receives the tachometeroutput. By associating the passage of the package's front and back edgesby the photodetector with the tachometer data, the barcode scannerprocessor determines when the package passes through the X patterns. Thebarcode scanner processor accordingly determines when valid barcode datamay be acquired for the package and acquires the barcode data duringthat period.

The barcode processor accumulates barcode data while a given packagepasses through the X patterns and transmits the accumulated barcode datato the system processor when the package reaches a predetermined pointin the path of travel following the barcode scanner. More specifically,the barcode scanner processor knows when the front edge of the packagepasses by the barcode scanner photodetector. After acquiring thepackage's barcode data over a period based on the package's length, thebarcode scanner processor holds the barcode data until a tachometervalue the barcode scanner processor associates with the barcode dataaccumulates to a point indicating that the front edge of the package isat the predetermined point downstream of the scanner. The predeterminedpoint is defined so that the longest package the system is expected tohandle can clear the scanner's X patterns. The barcode scanner processorthen outputs the barcode data to the system processor.

The system processor relies on tachometer pulses to correctly associatebarcode data with a package record. The system processor determines theaccumulated tachometer value at the time the barcode data is receivedfrom the barcode scanner processor. The open read window and close readwindow barcode variables for each package structure correspond to thedistance between the dimensioner and the predetermined point downstreamfrom the barcode scanner. Thus, the system processor compares thetachometer value associated with the received barcode data with the openread window and close read window barcode variables for the open packagestructures it maintains in memory. If the tachometer value is betweenthe open read window barcode variable and close read window barcodevariable for any open package structure, the system processor assignsthe barcode data to that package record. If the tachometer value doesnot fall within the open window and close window barcode variablesstored for any open package record, the barcode data is not assigned toa package record.

The described system of FIG. 1 was directed to barcode scanners thatproject an X-pattern across the belt. It should be understood to thoseskilled in the art that X-pattern scanners can be replaced with linescan cameras for detecting and reading barcodes. Line scan cameras likebarcode scanners are bulky and heavy and require more than onetechnician to install and calibrate the scanner in scanning tunnel.

To initially set up and calibrate system 10, the camera tunnel frame isset up and the barcode cameras are mounted to the frame so that they arepositioned and orientated properly with respect to the conveyor belt.This requires several technicians to lift the cameras into place in thetunnel and secure them to the frame. In general, prior art cameras areunitary structures that are bulky and cumbersome for a single technicianto lift and secure. Moreover, because the cameras operate with highpower, a large amount of heat must be expelled from the camera housingso as not to damage the camera electronics and optics. Thus, fans areenclosed in the camera housing to pull air through the housing to cooloff the internal components.

Once installed, the cameras require time consuming set-up andcalibration techniques and, if removed, the camera setup and calibrationmust be repeated. Technicians connect each camera to a computer toindividually calibrate and set the camera's operating parameters. Thetechnician inputs camera information directly into the camera processorvia the computer and may save certain camera settings to a dongle orother portable storage device. Calibration data may include the angle oforientation of the camera, the height of the camera and the location ofthe camera with respect to the belt and the dimensioner. Once eachcamera is calibrated and set-up in the tunnel, the cameras are connectedto a central computer that receives information captured and processedby each camera. However, should a camera break or need to be serviced, afull calibration and set-up is necessary for the camera being replacedand possibly for the overall tunnel to ensure that all components of thetunnel are properly aligned.

In the system shown in FIG. 1, dimensioner 28 is a triangulation typedimensioner similar to those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,775,012,6,177,999, 5,969,823, and 5,661,561, the entire disclosures of which areincorporated by reference herein. With regard to these embodiments,dimensioner 28 comprises a light source, such as a laser and a rotatingreflector disposed within the dimensioner housing that produce ascanning beam (denoted in phantom at 40) that is directed down atconveyor belt 24. That is, the rotating reflector scans the single pointlight source across the width of belt 24. Each angular position of thereflector represents an x-axis location across the belt. Scanning beam40 intersects belt 24 at line 42 in a manner that is transverse (x-axis80) to the belt's linear movement (y-axis 82) in the path of travel at afixed angle with respect to an axis normal (z-axis 84) to the belt'ssurface. Packages moving on belt 24, such as package 62, intersectscanning beam 40, thereby creating an offset in the scanning beam in they-direction (along y-axis 82). In particular, the laser light source ispositioned downstream in the y-axis 82 direction so that the plane oflight is reflected at an angle from z-axis 84. Thus, as a box movesdownstream the intersection of the plane of light is a continuous lineacross the belt in along x-axis 80. When a box intersects the plane oflight, the portion of the plane intersected by the box will shiftforward toward the light source since the light on the box travels ashorter distance than the light that intersects the belt on the left andright sides of the box. This offset or shift in the light on the boxsurface is proportional to the height of the box.

Both conveyor belt 24 and the packages thereon reflect light created bythe scanning beam back to the rotating mirror, which reflects light to alinear array of line scan CCD detectors or a CMOS imager (not shown)within dimensioner 28. The array is oriented parallel to y-axis 82.Because the rotating mirror reflects both the outgoing and reflectedlaser light, the mirror returns the reflected light to a constant x-axisposition, but the reflected light shifts in the y-directioncorrespondingly to the shift in line 42 caused by the height of apackage 62 and the angle at which the scanned laser beam intersects thebelt. Thus, the linear array of CCD or CMOS detectors must be accuratelyaligned in the y-direction to thereby detect the return light's y-axisshift. Moreover, because the array is made up of a single line of pixelsensors, the alignment is critical to detect the reflected light. If theaxis of the linear sensor is misaligned with the fixed x-axis pointwhere the mirror directs the reflected light, the sensor will not detectthe change in height. The rotating mirror's angular position correspondsto the x-axis position of any given point of reflected light.

Dimensioner 28 generates a signal representative of the height of anobject such as package 62 across conveyor belt 24 as described by they-axis offset detected in scanning beam 40. The signal is alsorepresentative of the x-axis positions of the height data by associationof that data with the mirror's angular position. Based on the heightdata and corresponding x-axis data, the dimensioner processor (notshown) determines the cross sectional height profile an object on thebelt and, by accumulating such profiles along the object's length, theobject's three dimensional profile.

As with the camera, technicians must lift and hold the dimensioner inplace while it is secured to the tunnel frame. Next, levels are used toensure that the dimensioner's detector is parallel to the face of theconveyor belt. If the dimensioner's detector array is out of asubstantially parallel adjustment with respect to the belt, thedimensioner may obtain inaccurate dimensions of the object.Additionally, as previously described, should the line scan array notalign properly with the rotating mirror, e.g. because of slightmisalignments between the array and the rotating mirror, the dimensionermay not detect any shift in the light. Moreover, the rotating mirror maybecome misaligned during shipping or installation through jarring of thedimensioner.

SUMMARY

The present invention recognizes and addresses the foregoingconsiderations, and others, of prior art constructions and methods.

These and/or other objects are achieved in a preferred embodiment of amethod of calibrating a barcode scanning tunnel, the method comprisingproviding a scanning tunnel having a moveable surface, at least onerange finder having an orientation, at least one camera having anorientation and at least one calibration object having at least oneindicia disposed in a predetermined relationship to one or more featuresof the at least one calibration object. The method further comprises thesteps of capturing at least one image of the at least one calibrationobject by the at least one camera, electronically detecting the at leastone calibration object at least one indicia and the one or more objectfeatures and electronically calculating at least one component of the atleast one camera orientation with respect to the moveable surface inresponse to information obtained from the image and the at least onecalibration object at least one indicia.

In some embodiments, the method further comprising electronicallycalculating a height and extents of the at least one calibration objectby the at least one range finder by electronically detecting the one ormore calibration object features. In other embodiments, the at least oneindicia is a barcode. Yet in other embodiments, a plurality of indiciadisposed in a predetermined relationship to the one or more features ofthe at least one calibration object. Still in other embodiments, the atleast one or more features of the at least one calibration objectfurther comprises at least one of a length, width and height of the atleast one calibration object.

In another embodiment, a second calibration object is provided having aplurality of indicia disposed in a predetermined relationship to one ormore features of the second calibration object.

In other embodiments, the predetermined relationship between the atlease one indicia and the one or more calibration object featuresfurther comprises knowing the distance of the at least one indicia fromone or more edges of the calibration object. In yet other embodiments,the at least one indicia is formed from a plurality of bars, and aspacing between adjacent bars of the plurality of bars and the thicknessof each bar of the plurality of bars is know with respect to the atleast one or more calibration object features.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises calculating apositional relationship of the at least one camera, the at least onemoveable surface and the at least one range finder with respect to oneanother. In still other embodiments, the step of electronicallycalculating at least one component of the at least one cameraorientation with respect to the moveable surface further comprisescalculating a relationship of the at least one calibration objectindicia with respect to the one or more calibration object features, andcomparing the calculated relationship to the predetermined relationship.

In another embodiment of a method of calibrating a barcode scanningtunnel, the method comprises providing a scanning tunnel having aconveyor belt, a range finder having an orientation with respect to themoveable surface, a plurality of cameras each having an orientation withrespect to the movable surface and the range finder, and a plurality ofcalibration boxes each having a predefined length, width and height andeach containing a plurality of barcodes disposed in predeterminedrelationship to at least one edge of the respective calibration box. Theprovided electronics captures a plurality of images of each of theplurality of calibration boxes by the range finder as each of theplurality of calibration boxes move along the conveyor belt, captures aplurality of images of each of the plurality of calibration boxes byeach of the plurality of cameras as each of the plurality of calibrationboxes move along the conveyor belt, electronically detects the length,the width and the height of each of the calibration boxes from theplurality of range finder images, electronically detects in each of theplurality of camera images of each of the plurality of calibration boxesat least one of the calibration box plurality of barcodes, calculatesthe relationship of each of the detected barcodes with respect to the atleast one edge of the respective calibration box and electronicallycalculates each of the plurality of camera orientations based on thecalculated relationship of each of the detected barcodes with respect tothe at least one edge of the respective calibration box and itsrespective the predetermined relationship.

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate one or more embodiments of theinvention and, together with the description, serve to explain theprinciples of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A full and enabling disclosure of the present invention, including thebest mode thereof directed to one of ordinary skill in the art, is setforth in the specification, which makes reference to the appendeddrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a prior art schematic representation of a dynamic dimensioningsystem;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a dynamic dimensioning system in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of a portion of the dynamicdimensioning system of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a camera for use in the dynamicdimensioning system of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the camera shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the camera shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is an partial exploded perspective view of the camera shown inFIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of an illumination module for usein the camera shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is a perspective cutaway view of the illumination module shown inFIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a perspective partial cutaway view of the illumination moduleshown in FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of a camera module for use inthe camera shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 12 is a perspective cutaway view of the camera module shown in FIG.11;

FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of a communication module foruse in the camera shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of the communication module shown in FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a perspective cutaway view of the camera of FIG. 5;

FIGS. 16 and 17 are perspective views of a range finder in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 18 is an exploded perspective view of the range finder of FIG. 16;

FIG. 19 is a schematic view of the range finder of FIG. 16;

FIG. 20 is a laser pattern for the range finder in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 21 is an exploded view of a portion of the laser pattern shown inFIG. 20;

FIG. 22 is a block diagram of the assembly of the camera of FIG. 5;

FIG. 23 is a block diagram of the assembly of the range finder of FIG.16;

FIG. 23A is a plan view of a pattern used during manufacturing tocalibrate the camera and range finder of FIGS. 5 and 16, respectively;

FIG. 23B is a top plan view of a calibration technique of the rangefinder of FIG. 16;

FIG. 23C is a plot of pixel versus distance for the range findercalibration of FIG. 23B;

FIG. 23D is a top plan view of a calibration technique of the camera ofFIG. 5;

FIG. 24 is a plan view of the conveyor and range finder pattern of FIG.16;

FIG. 25 is a plan view of the conveyor and range finder pattern of FIG.16;

FIG. 26 is a intensity plot by pixel for the range finder of FIG. 25;

FIG. 27 is a close up view of the intensity plot of FIG. 26;

FIG. 28 is a block diagram of steps for mounting the range finder ofFIG. 16 in the tunnel system as shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 29 is a block diagram of steps for mounting the camera of FIG. 5 inthe tunnel system as shown in FIG. 3;

FIGS. 30A-30C are perspective views of a range finder in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 31 is a perspective view of the coordinate systems used in thetunnel system of FIG. 3;

FIG. 32 is a perspective view of a calibration box in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 32A is a plan view of one side of the calibration box shown in FIG.28;

FIG. 33 is a flow diagram of an automated calibration routine inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 33A is a top plan view of the conveyor system and range finder ofFIG. 31;

FIG. 34A is a top plan view of the conveyor system of FIG. 31;

FIG. 34B is a side plan view of the conveyor system of FIG. 31;

FIG. 34C is a back plan view of the conveyor system of FIG. 31;

FIG. 34D is top plan view of the conveyor system of FIG. 31;

FIG. 34E is top plan view of the conveyor system of FIG. 31;

FIG. 35 is a top plan view of the conveyor system of FIG. 31;

FIG. 36 is a top plan view of the conveyor system of FIG. 31;

FIG. 37A is a side plan view of the scanning tunnel of FIG. 31;

FIG. 37B is a plot of the range finder's pitch angle with respect to theconveyer;

FIG. 38 is a side plan view of the scanning tunnel of FIG. 31;

FIG. 39 is a top plan view of the scanning tunnel of FIG. 31;

FIG. 40A is a calibration barcode sheet coordinate system in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 40B is a calibration box coordinate system in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 40C is a conveyor belt coordinate system in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 40D is a camera coordinate system.

Repeat use of reference characters in the present specification anddrawings is intended to represent same or analogous features or elementsof the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to presently preferred embodimentsof the invention, one or more examples of which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings. Each example is provided by way of explanation ofthe invention, not limitation of the invention. In fact, it will beapparent to those skilled in the art that modifications and variationscan be made in the present invention without departing from the scope orspirit thereof. For instance, features illustrated or described as partof one embodiment may be used on another embodiment to yield a stillfurther embodiment. Thus, it is intended that the present inventioncovers such modifications and variations as come within the scope of theappended claims and their equivalents. Additional aspects and advantagesof the invention will be set forth in part in the description whichfollows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may belearned by practice of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, a dynamic dimensioning system 100 generallycomprises a range finder 102 or other dimensioning device (i.e., adimensioner, light curtains, etc.) for determining the height and roughdimensions of a box being transported on a conveyor, multiple cameras106, 108, 110 and a tachometer 112 connected to at least one camera 106that outputs a signal representative of the movement of the conveyorbelt. The range finder and the cameras are networked together by, forexample, an Ethernet connection 114. While only three cameras are shownin FIG. 2, it should be understood that any number of cameras can benetworked together to form a scanning tunnel. One of skill in the artshould understand that Ethernet is a local-area network (LAN)architecture that uses a bus or star topology and supports data transferrates of 10 Mbps. Ethernet uses the CSMA/CD access method to handlesimultaneous demands and is one of the most widely implemented LANstandards. A newer version of Ethernet, called 100 Base-T (or FastEthernet), supports data transfer rates of 100 Mbps, and the newestversion, Gigabit Ethernet supports data rates of 1 gigabit (1,000megabits) per second.

Referring to FIG. 3, dynamic dimensioning system 100 scans objects, suchas object 103, moving on a conveyor belt 104, decodes indicia, such asbarcodes 116, located on the object and transmits the information to ahost system (not shown) for further processing. Shown in the figure is atop read barcode camera 106 and range finder 102 in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention. In general, objects are movedthrough a field of view 118 of range finder 102. Range finder 102detects the presence of object 103 and determines the range, extent andorientation of the object with respect to the conveyor belt. The extentsof object refer to the left and right edges of the object along x-axis80. The range finder generates an object start trigger that notifies thecameras (only one of which is shown in FIG. 3) of the presence of theobject as well as an object end signal. Range finder 102 transmitsheight and extent data to camera module 106, which uses the informationto focus its optics to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness ofdetecting and reading barcode 116.

Referring again to FIGS. 2 and 3, each camera 106, 108 and 110 uses thetachometer data to track the motion of object 103 through a field ofview 120 of the camera's imaging sensor (not shown in FIGS. 2 and 3).Each camera processes the video data stream and locates and decodes anybarcode data present on the object by detecting light reflected from theobject being scanned. Once the object reaches a predetermined distancedownstream from the tunnel system (this point is set by the host), thesystem transmits the barcode data to the host system for furtherprocessing. It should be understood that camera 106 may be mounted todirect its field of view 120 directly onto conveyor 104, or the field ofview may be redirected by a mirror 122 as shown in FIG. 3. Redirect thefield of view allows the camera to be positioned so that its scanningimage is parallel to y-axis 82, where mirror 122 redirects the field ofview along z-axis 84.

For ease of discussion, only one of cameras 106, 108 and 110 will bediscussed in detail, but it should be understood that cameras 106, 108and 110 are structurally and electronically the same. Referring to FIGS.4-6, camera has a chassis module 124, a camera module 126, anillumination module 128 and a distributed processing and communicationsmodule 130. The modular design allows for camera 106 to be disassembledduring installation to reduce the amount of weight that must be liftedand mounted at any given time.

Referring to FIG. 7, chassis module 124 has two fixed brackets 132 and134 for mounting the chassis module to the scanning tunnel. Two hingedbrackets 136 and 138, located on an underside 140 of chassis module 124adjacent to respective brackets 132 and 134, moveably secure distributedprocessing and communications module 130 to the chassis moduleunderside. In particular, distributed processing and communicationsmodule 130 has four fixed pins 135 that are received in slots 137 formedin hinged brackets 136 and 138. Two spring loaded pins 139 are receivedin holes 141 formed in hinged brackets 136 and 138 to releasably securethe communications module to the hinged brackets. Two fasteners 143fasten the ends of moveable brackets 136 and 138 to the chassis moduleunderside 140 to positively maintain the communications module in aclosed position. Fasteners 143 may be screws, bolts, or other suitablefasteners.

Mounted within chassis module 124 are two power supplies 142 and 144that convert AC power into DC power. Power supply 142 providesapproximately 350 watts of DC power for use by distributed processingand communications module 130 and camera module 126. Power supply 144provides approximately 290 watts of DC power for use by illuminationmodule 128. A DC power distribution board (not shown) generates therequired DC voltages that are not provided directly by power supplies142 and 144.

Referring again to FIG. 6, a rear wall 146 is covered by a plurality ofmetal fins 156 for dissipating heat generated by power supplies 142 and144. Mounted on opposite ends 148 and 150 of rear wall 146 are two setsof fans 152 and 154. Fans 152 pull air into chassis module 124, and fans154 push air out. A rectangular opening 155 receives camera module 126,which is secured in place by fasteners, such as screws, bolts or othersuitable fasteners. Chassis module underside 140 defines a plurality ofopenings 158 for receiving heat sinks 240 (FIGS. 5 and 6) fromdistributed processing and communications module 130. Openings 158 aresized and shaped to snuggly fit the heat sinks so that the communicationmodule interior is sealed off from the area surrounding rear wall 146.It should be understood that gaskets (not shown) may be used around theperiphery of the openings to increase the sealing effect, for examplerubber, silicon, or other polymer type gaskets, for example rubber,silicon, or other polymer or elastomer type gaskets.

Referring to FIGS. 8 to 10, illumination module 128 comprises anillumination servo and control system 162, LED boards 164 (only one ofwhich is shown in the Figures), and illumination optics 166. All of thecomponents are mounted in a housing formed from a rear wall 168, a topwall 170, a bottom wall 172 and two end caps 174 and 176. A hole 177 isformed through back wall 168 to allow the camera lens to extend throughinto the illumination module behind illumination optics 166, asdescribed in further detail below.

Illumination servo and control system 162 is mounted on bottom wall 172,connects to LED boards 164 via cables and receives command signals froma processor (not shown in the Figures) in camera module 126, which isused to set the intensity level of illumination for the LEDs. LED boards164 are mounted on back wall 168 by brackets 169, provide a mountingarea for LEDs 180 and conduct away heat produced by LEDs 180 throughmetal fins 182 formed on rear wall 168. In one embodiment, each LEDboard 164 may be six inches long and may contain eighteen LEDs alignedin a single row. The LEDs are arranged in an interleaved pattern so thatif there is a fault in one string of LEDs, the resulting dark LEDs willbe spread out across the boards to thereby maintain a uniformillumination field. In one preferred embodiment, illumination module 128contains six LED boards.

Illumination optics 166 collimates light output of LEDs 180 and focusesthe light into a line that is coplanar with an imaging sensor viewingplane (not shown in FIGS. 8 to 10). Illumination optics 166 comprisestwo separate cylindrical Fresnel lenses generally denoted by 166, whichshows the two lenses as a single unit: the first is parallel to the axisof illumination to focus the LED light to a narrow plane that iscoplanar with the imaging sensor scanning plane, and the second lens isarranged perpendicular to the first to spread out the light from eachLED board along the scan line to cover the full field of view requiredof the system. It should be understood that in other embodiments, asingle Fresnel lens or a refractive optical element can be used in placeof the double Fresnel lens. Fresnel lens 166 is mounted to end caps 174and 176 by mounting brackets 184 and spacers 186. Fresnel lens 166defines an opening 188 to allow light reflected from a surface to reachthe camera optics of camera module 126, as further described herein.

Enclosing the space defined by illumination module back wall 168, topwall 170, bottom wall 172 and end caps 174 and 176 is a shroud 190.Shroud 190 is preferably formed from a transparent material to allowlight from LEDs 180 to pass through the shroud onto the surface beingilluminated and allow reflected light to pass back through to the cameraoptics. Thus, shroud 190 may preferably be formed from any suitabletransparent material, and in one preferred embodiment, the shroud isformed from an optical grade acrylic. A window 192 disposed in anaperture in a front wall 194 of shroud 190 is formed from an high gradeoptical glass, for example float glass or other similar material tominimize distortion of the reflected light returning to the cameraoptics. Window 192 may be secured to shroud 190 by fasteners or othermeans that securely maintains the window in place. Suitable fastenerswould include clips, pins, press-fitting the glass into the shroudopening, etc.

Illumination module 128 is secured to chassis module 124 by a tongue 196(FIG. 6) formed on chassis module 124 that is received in a groove 198formed in bottom wall 172. Once the illumination module groove 198receives chassis tongue 196, a lip 200 formed on top wall 170 is securedto a chassis top wall 202 by fasteners (not shown), for example screws,bolts, etc.

Referring to FIGS. 11 and 12, camera module 126 comprises a body 204, asensor module 206, a fixed focal length lens 208 and a cover 210. Afocus servo module 212 may be a closed loop servo system that controlsthe movement of a motor (not shown) that adjusts the focal lengthbetween main imaging lens 208 and sensor 213. Focus servo module 212receives commands from a camera module processor 214, which are used toadjust the focal length between main imaging lens 208 and sensor 213 bymoving a mirror located between the camera sensor and the fixed optics.Camera module 126 uses a hinged mirror focus system (such as thatdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,801,260 assigned to Accu-Sort Systems,Inc., the entire disclosure being incorporated by reference herein) toadjust the optical distance between the main imaging fixed focus lensand sensor.

Imaging lens 208 may have a fixed focal length of 68.5 mm, 90 mm and 140mm, which provide sufficient coverage for most applications of camera100 (barcode and OCR applications in auto identification markets).However, it should be understood that other fixed focal lengths may beused depending on the application of camera 100. Sensor module 206contains two circuit boards (not shown) and an imaging array 213. In onepreferred embodiment, the imaging array is an 8000 pixel linear array,4-tap Dalsa charge-coupled device sensor with a video output of 8 bitsper pixel. It should be understood by those of skill in the art thatother types of CCD sensors may be used. If the sensor board is operatedat its maximum rate of 40-MHz per tap, the sensor board can producevideo at a rate of approximately 160 mega pixels per second at sixhundred and twenty feet per minute.

Referring to FIGS. 13 and 14, distributed processing and communicationsmodule 130 comprises a carrier card 216, a tracking processor 218, avideo processor 220, three COM express modules 222, 224 and 226, and acommunications processor 228. Carrier card 216 provides the platform forall video processing performed by camera module 106. Video from imagingmodule 206 is received by video processor 220 where it is processed inreal time and transferred to COM Express modules 224, 224 and 226 andcommunications processor 228 for further processing. The communicationprocessor and COM Express modules communicate with one another andexternal devices by Ethernet connections 114 through an Ethernet switch230.

Tracking processor 218 receives an input signal from tachometer 112 atinput 232, a trigger signal at input 234 and range information fromrange finder 102 at input 236 and uses the information to track anobject's presence, location and height, as in prior art systems.Tracking processor 218 also provides control and diagnostic commands toillumination module 128 and camera focus servo module 212. Thus, asobjects are transported down conveyor belt 104 (FIG. 2), the trackingprocessor tracks their position relative to camera 106 and height andlocation information on belt 104. In response to this information,tracking processor 218 sends commands to illumination module 128 toincrease or decrease the illumination intensity and to camera focusservo module 212 to adjust the focus of the camera optics to properlyacquire a readable image from the objects. In one preferred embodiment,tracking processor 218 is an i.MX31L manufactured by FreescaleSemiconductor of Austin, Tex.

Video processor 220 provides all high-speed video processing and handlesall real-time control signals from, for example, tachometer 112 andtrigger input 234. Video processor 220 conditions and processestachometer input signal 232 and stamps the tracking information into thelinear sensor image data. Video processor 220 also buffers lines ofvideo data from image sensor 206, packs the lines into 64-bit words andputs the words into the memory of communications processor 228 and COMExpress modules 222, 224 and 226. Video processor 220 maintains aconstant scan speed of imaging sensor 206 based on tachometer inputsignal 232 and the line density configured in the system. Communicationsprocessor 228 receives data input from tracking processor 218 and videodata from video processor 220. The main function of communicationsprocessor 228 is to move image data from video processor 220 to COMExpress modules 222, 224 and 226. Examples of communications processor228 are the MPC8548E, MPC8547E, MPC8545E and MPC8543E all manufacturedby Freescale, Inc. of Austin, Tex.

COM Express modules 222, 224 and 226 allow expansion of camera 106without camera system redesign and can be added at any time to provideadditional functionality without requiring modification to carrier card216. Specifically, modules for performing additional features such asdimensioning, optical character recognition, etc. can be installed incamera 106 at any time through the COM Express modules. Communicationsmodule 228 is constantly providing camera data to the COM Expressmodules, which can be used for example for OCR or dimensioning. Each COMExpress module 222, 224 and 226 has an Ethernet connection 238 tocommunications processor 228 through Ethernet switch 230.

Each camera has two network ports 178A and 178B that allow the camerasto be linked together. The dedicated network has 100BaseT Ethernet andhas two hardwired signals: a tachometer pulse and a tachometersynchronization signal. The tachometer signal is sourced by the camerahaving tachometer 112 attached to it. The tachometer synchronizationsignal is a derivative signal of the tachometer signal, which isdirectly transmitted to each of the cameras to ensure that each cameracan accurately track any given package independently of the othercameras. By monitoring these two signals, all of the cameras in thetunnel can stay in perfect synchronization with a package on conveyor104 and with each other by simultaneously counting tachometer pulses foreach package on the conveyor system. Network ports 178A and 178B allowinformation from one camera on the network to be transmitted to anyother camera on the tunnel network. Each camera also contains two ports178C and 178D for connecting to the host system. The first port 178Coutputs an asynchronous signal and the second 178D is a 100BaseTEthernet connection. The imaging network connection outputs image datato the host system for further processing. The PCI Express slot is astandard PCI slot that accepts upgrade cards to provide furtherprocessing features for camera 106. For example, a PCI card may be usedto allow camera 106 to provide real time JPEG compression, which may beoutput to the host system.

The power consumed by camera 106 may be above 180 watts, of which 15 to20 watts may be emitted as light. The remaining power is converted toheat, which must be removed from the camera so as not to damage theelectronics. Because camera 106 contains sensitive optics andelectronics, camera module 126, illumination module 128 andcommunications module 130 are preferably not cooled by traditionalmethods of pulling air through each module, since dirt and debris couldaccumulate on the electronic and optics.

Referring to FIG. 15, the individual modules of camera 106 fit togetherto form a cooling channel 244. In particular, camera module body 204fits into opening 155 (FIG. 6) to form continuous chassis rear wall 146.Illumination module 128 is secured to chassis bottom wall tongue 196 bygroove 198 and to top wall 202 by a plurality of fasteners, such asscrews, bolts or clips as previously described. Communication module 130is secured to camera chassis 124 by brackets 136 and 138 (FIG. 7), whichallow the communication module to pivot about one end 133 so that a usercan service the communication module without having to physically removeit from the camera.

When communications module 130 is in its closed position, heat sinks 240are received through chassis bottom wall openings 158. As a result,illumination module rear wall 168, camera chassis rear wall 146,communications module heat sinks 240 (only one of which is shown in FIG.15) and chassis bottom wall 140 (not shown in FIG. 15) together definecooling channel 244, which is sealed from the sensitive optics andelectronics of the camera. Each of the cooling channel walls contains aplurality of metallic fins to conduct heat away from the electricalcomponents into the cooling channel to assist in heat dissipation. Fans152 and 154, located at each end of cooling channel 244, pull air intoone end and push air out the other end of the channel to expel the heatfrom the camera. In one embodiment, a fan forced air flow ofapproximately 130 cubic feet per minute should maintain a desiredtemperature range within the camera.

Cameras 106, 108 and 110 may play different roles in a scanning tunnel.Preferably, for example, one camera is designated as the master camera,which receives a trigger signal, the system tachometer signal andprovides a trigger signal and focus information to other cameras in thetunnel. One camera (either the master camera or one of the slavecameras) is connected to the host system and is responsible fortransmitting package data to the host system.

Data collected by each camera for a single box is combined into a singlemessage that is transmitted to the host system when the package reachesa transmit point. Bar code and package information may be transferredbetween cameras over the 100Base-T Ethernet network. Each of cameramodules 106, 108 and 110 is capable of correlating the messages from allof the other cameras in the tunnel system and generating a combinedmessage. That is, if the master camera receives all of the camera datafrom the other cameras, it can correlate the multiple image data andtransmit the combined data to the host system. Because each of thecameras have the ability to receive data from the other cameras andcorrelate the combined data, two camera modules in the same tunnelsystem may be connected to different host systems, each with a differentdata format and transmit points. Additionally, because all of thecameras are networked, one camera could perform processing for datacollected by another camera should a camera loose the ability to processdata. Moreover, each camera contains set-up and calibration data aboutevery other camera in the tunnel system.

FIGS. 16 and 17 illustrate one embodiment of a range finder for use inthe tunnel system of FIG. 3. Range finder 102 has a housing 246 formedfrom a front wall 248, a top wall 250, a bottom wall 252, a back wall254 and two end walls 256. Referring to FIG. 18, front wall 248 definesthree circular openings 258, 260 and 262 and one rectangular opening264. Two brackets 266 and 268 are mounted to end walls 256 and allow therange finder to be mounted to the frame of the tunnel system.

Range finder 102 has two laser illumination devices 270 and 272 mountedproximate each end of housing 246 in respective openings (not shown).The laser devices are fastened to housing 246 and secured in place bycover plates 274 and 276 (FIG. 17). A respective front end 282 and 284of the laser illumination devices extend into respective front wallopenings 258 and 262. Each laser device front end 282 and 284 isenclosed by a respective diffractive optical element 286 and 288, whichare fastened to range finder front wall 248 over openings 258 and 262 byfasteners or other suitable connecting devices. A range finder linearsensor board 290 is received in a rectangular opening (not shown) formedin housing back wall 254 and is secured in place by a cover plate 292 byscrews, bolts or other suitable fasteners. A sensor head 296 extendsthrough housing front wall opening 260 and is covered by sensor optics298, which is fastened to housing front wall 248. A control panel 300 isreceived in housing front wall rectangular opening 264 and is secured inplace with screws, bolts or other suitable fasteners.

Referring to FIG. 19, laser illumination devices 270 and 272 and theirrespective diffractive optical lenses (not shown in FIG. 19) are used togenerate a laser pattern 302 with a spatially-unique bar arrangement(FIG. 20). Laser illumination devices 270 and 272 are placed at an angleθ with respect to an axis 308 normal to conveyor 104. Referring to FIG.21, the spatially-unique bar arrangement consists of a series of longlighted bars 314 and short lighted bars 316 that are separated by shortblank (non-lighted) spaces 318 and long blank (non-lighted) spaces 320.Narrow lighted bars are one pixel wide, narrow blank spaces are twopixels wide, wide lighted bars are three pixels wide and wide blankspaces are four pixels wide. The spatially-unique bar arrangementcontains one hundred and ninety-nine words, where a code word is definedby six elements and is approximately twenty pixels wide. The uniquepattern is defined by seventy-eight words and repeats three times tofully cover the belt width. In one embodiment of the unique pattern,there will never be three wide bars or blank spaces in a row. Thus, ifthree elements are consecutive and of similar widths, they must benarrow bars or spaces. The spatially-unique bar arrangement is alsoknown as a T-bar sequence.

It should be understood by one skilled in the art that as laser pattern302 spreads to the outer extents of the belt, the elements increase inwidth. Moreover, when a box intersects laser pattern 302, the portion ofthe pattern on the top of the box will compress in width since thedistance to the top of the box from the laser source is shorter than thedistance to the belt. However, because all of the bars and spacescompress, the unique words remain unchanged and does not effect theoperation of the range finder.

In some embodiments, the diffractive optical elements may generate aseries of light dots across the width of the belt instead of the uniquecode word pattern. However, the series of light dots are subject to thesame alignment problems that exist with prior art dimensioner designssince the line of dot must be properly aligned with the field of view ofthe linear sensor. In an effort to overcome the alignment issues, inother embodiments equally spaced light bars may be used where the heightof each bar is multiple pixels long. In the case of the equally spacedbar pattern, the alignment problem is overcome since acceptablealignment error is increased based on the height of the bars. However,both the equally spaced light dots and equally spaced light bars bothsuffer from overlap problems. That is, if the dots and bars are notsufficiently spaced apart, then one dot or bar may shift more than thespacing between adjacent dots or bars resulting in an incorrect heightmeasurement calculated for the box. If the spacing between dots or barsis narrowed to increase the resolution of the range finder, the maximumbox height for the system will be limited. If, on the other hand, thedot or bar spacing is increased to accommodate large box heights, theresolution of the dots or bars across the belt is reduced. With largespacing between the dots or bars, while the box height may be obtained,the ability to accurately detect the extents of the box is diminished.Thus, substituting the unique laser code word pattern in place ofequally spaced dots and bars overcomes both the sensor alignment andoverlap issues.

An optical axis 304 and 306 of each laser device is offset from anoptical axis 308 of linear camera sensor 296 by a predetermined distance310 by an angle θ, which allows for the linear sensor to be positionedtransverse to conveyor belt 104 instead of being parallel with the axisof travel of conveyor 104. Angle θ is used by the range finder processorto determine the height of a package using known triangulation methods.The purpose of having two laser devices 270 and 272 is to eliminate theeffect of shadowing caused by a single light source. That is, if asingle laser source 270 is used, then the portion of belt 104 adjacentto the left side of an object traveling down conveyor 104 will not beilluminated by the laser pattern since the object will block thisportion of the belt from being illuminated. Consequently, the additionof second laser device 272 allows for each laser device to be cycled onand off at a rate that causes a complete scan line to be projected ateach point along the length of the belt, thereby effectively eliminatingthe effects of shadowing.

As an object passes into illumination laser device fields of view 302,the spatially-unique bar arrangement shifts transverse to the directionof travel on conveyor 104, which is sensed by a field of view 312 oflinear sensor 296. Because the laser pattern across the belt is unique,the shifted portion of the pattern can be detected, and based on knowntriangulation methods the amount of shift can be translated into aheight for the detected object. The extent of the pattern found at theobject height indicates the left and right extents of the object. Theobject height and extent information is correlated with tachometer countinformation and transmitted over Ethernet network 114 to camera modules106, 108 and 110, and the resultant package information is used to drivecamera focus servo module 212. Range finder linear sensor board 290contains a processor (not shown) that captures images picked up bysensor 296, processes the images to determine if objects are presentwithin range finder field of view 312 and determine the object's heightand extents (left and right edges) on a line-by-line basis.

In one embodiment, linear sensor 296 is a Toshiba 1209D 2000 pixel,single tap, charged coupled device sensor and the processor is ani.MX31L processor manufactured by Freescale Semiconductor of Austin,Tex. For a belt speed of six hundred and twenty feet per minute, rangefinder 102 can perform 2,480 sample lines per second, which yields aresolution of 1/20^(th) of an inch in the direction of travel andproduces a video rate of about five megabytes per second. Laserillumination devices 270 and 272 operate at 658 nm wavelength and thelaser is collimated with a spot diameter of 2.5×7.0 mm. Each laserillumination device and DOE is offset 20 inches from the center ofconveyor 104, and laser devices 270 and 272 are directed at a 13.94degree angle θ with respect to axis 308.

The range finder image plane is located 76 inches from the plane of theconveyor. In this configuration, the system can accommodate a maximumpackage size of 36 inches wide and 36 inches high. It should beunderstood that other configurations are within the scope of the presentinvention and the above configuration is merely presented as one exampleconfiguration. For example, the maximum box height that can be detectedby range finder 102 without a unique code word shifting from one portionof the unique pattern to a portion where the pattern repeats isapproximately 50 inches high. Thus, the position of the laser devicescan be placed in other configurations to accommodate box heights up to50 inches tall.

When range finder 102 and camera 106 are manufactured, they arecalibrated in-house prior to being shipped. Referring to FIG. 22, whenassembling camera 106, at step 322, LED boards 164 and Fresnel lens 166are mounted to the LED board fixture. Next, at step 324, Fresnel lens166 is aligned with respect to the LEDs and the output of the LEDs iscalibrated. At step 326, focus servo module 212 is calibrated to itsforty-five degree position and the operation of the camera is verified.At step 328, pixel compensation for image module 206 is determined, themodule is aligned with a target, and focus servo module 212 iscalibrated to form a focus table that is stored in the camera's memory.At step 330, camera module 126 and illumination module 128 are mountedon chassis module 124 and the video gain table is calibrated as afunction of object distance, and a video gain table is created and thetable is stored in the cameras memory. The camera read rate is verifiedand the performance of the camera optics is checked.

With regard to range finder 102 and referring to FIG. 23, at step 332,laser illumination devices 270 and 272 and their respective diffractiveoptical elements 286 and 288 are aligned to a target, their respectivefields of view 302 are focused, the beams are properly orientated andthe laser output power is set. At step 334, linear sensor 296 and optics298 are mounted and the sensor ambient gain is set. The sensor is thenaligned to a target to set the x-axis, y-axis and yaw angle, and thesensor focus is set. At step 336, once all of the components are mountedin range finder housing 246, the sensor is once again aligned to atarget, the laser spots are aligned to the sensor, the diffractiveoptical element line pattern is aligned to the sensor and the linepattern is calibrated to the correct depth of field for the range findersensor.

Referring to FIG. 23A, a test strip 329 is illustrated having a seriesof bars 329 a, having a known width and spacing, and surrounding whitespace 329 b. Bars 329 a and white space 329 b are used during thein-house calibration of the range finder and camera for respectivelycalculating height data and building an ambient gain table. With regardto range finder 102 and referring to FIG. 23B, test strip 329 is placedat a point 331 a representative of the mounting height of the rangefinder above the conveyor, and the pixel position of each code word CW₁. . . CW₁₉₃ is recorded and stored in memory. Test strip 329 is moved toa new distance 331 _(a+1) and the pixel location for each code word isagain recorded and stored in memory. The process is repeated for 331_(a+n), distances and the pixel location for each code word are storedin memory. Referring to FIG. 23C, a plot of the pixel location versusdistance is shown for one code word. Data for each code word is used tofit a 5^(th) order polynomial to the stored data, and the 5^(th) orderpolynomial for each code word CW₁ . . . CW₁₉₃ is stored in the rangefinder's memory and used for calculating the distance of objects. Theprocess is repeated for light source 270 and a second set of 5^(th)order polynomials for each code word are stored in memory. Use of 5^(th)order polynomials for each code word allows a height measurement to becalculated by the amount of shift that occurs of one or more code words.Independent polynomials for each code word allow the system to calculatethe measured height based on the shift of one or more code words.

Referring to FIG. 23D, test strip 329 may also be used to build adistance versus focus table for camera 106 during in-house calibration.As previously discussed above, camera 106 adjust it focal length byadjusting the distance between main imaging lens 208 and sensor 213 byadjusting the mirror (not shown) through focus servo module 212. Thus,test strip 329 may be mounted at different distances from camera 106,and servo module 212 is adjusted until the bars detected by the cameraare in focus. The servo module position is recorded for multipledistances and a 5^(th) order polynomial is fit to the measured datapoints. Thus, for any distance of an object from the camera, acorresponding position of servo module 212 can be calculated based onthe derived 5^(th) order polynomial to obtain a focused picture as theobject moves into the cameras field of view. Moreover, the camera'sfocus can be dynamically changed as the object moves through thecamera's field of view allowing accurate scans to be obtained by thecamera's sensor even when the side of the object is offset from thedirection of travel.

In operation and as previously described, range finder 102 detects theheight of objects moving along conveyor belt 104 by detecting thelongitudinal shift of a laser pattern projected across the belt when theobject intersects the laser pattern. In particular and referring toFIGS. 24 and 25, a box 103 is shown moving along conveyor 104 indirection 26. Laser 270 projects the unique laser line pattern sequenceacross the width of belt 104. As box 103 passes through the lightpattern, a portion 315 of the unique code shifts to the right since thedistance the code must travel is shorter when the box is present. Aportion of the unique line pattern 105 is not seen on the belt due toshading caused by box 103. The linear range finder sensor is positionedtransverse to the direction of belt travel and detects a series of lightand dark areas along the width of the belt. These light and dark areasare converted to a detected illumination intensity signal that is usedby the range finder processor to detect the edges of the bars andspaces.

Referring to FIGS. 26 and 27, the illumination intensity signal is shownplotted versus pixel number in graph 600. The range finder processorcarries out an edge detection programming routine by first selecting asliding window 602 of twenty pixels and then calculating an averageillumination intensity 604 over the twenty pixel window. If theintensity between adjacent pixels P_(i) and P_(i+1) cross averageintensity line 604, an edge between a lighted bar and a non-lightedspace is determined to be present between pixels P_(i) and P_(i+1). Thefollowing linear interpolation formula is used to calculate theapproximate position of an edge with respect to a particular pixelP_(i):

Offset=(Average Intensityt_(twenty pixel window) −P _(i intensity))/(P_(i+1 intensity) −P _(i intensity))

The actual location of an edge is equal to P_(i)+Offset. Window 602 isshifted by one pixel and the average intensity calculation is repeated,another edge is detected and the process is repeated until all edgelocations are detected across the width of the sensor array. It shouldbe understood that if the intensity increases from P_(i) to P_(i+1),then the transition is from a light bar to a space, and if the intensitydecreases from P_(i) to P_(i+1), then the transition is from a space toa bar.

After all edge locations are detected across the width of the belt, therange finder processor calculates the width of a bar or space based onthe following formula:

Width₁=edge location_(i+1)−edge location_(i)

Once all bar and space widths have been determined, code word extractionis performed by examining six consecutive widths: three bars and threespaces. For the three bars, the widest (W) and narrowest (N) bars aredetermined. If W/N>7/5 and W−N>2.5 then there exists at lease one widebar and a least one narrow bar. Otherwise, all three bars must be narrowsince, in one embodiment, there cannot be three adjacent wide bars. Ifit is determined that one wide bar and one narrow bar exists, then ifthe middle bar width >(W+N)/2, then the third bar is also wide,otherwise the third bar is narrow. The above code word calculations arerepeated for all spaces between the bars. The pixel widths of each ofthe narrow and wide bars and spaces drive the above ratios fordetermining whether detected edges define a wide or narrow bar or space.At this point, the processor can determine the order of bars and spacesand the location of the code words with respect to the width of conveyorbelt 104.

In the above described embodiments, the heights of boxes placed on theconveyor should not be larger than 51 inches to ensure that a shiftedcode word does not move into the repeated portion of the unique pattern.If, on the other hand, a box having a height greater than 51 inches isplaced on the conveyor causing a code word to shift into the repeatedportion of the unique pattern, the measured height of the box would notbe accurate. However, a disambiguation step can be performed to ensurethat larger boxes are properly measured so that the cameras areaccurately focused.

As previously described, a fundamental property of the unique barpattern is that each instance of a codeword is located in at most threedisjointed locations across the width of the belt since the uniquepattern repeats approximately two and one-half times, Thus, to accountfor the possibility of a codeword shifting into the repeated portion ofthe pattern, a photo-eye or light curtain (not shown) may be placedupstream from range finder 102 to detect when a box greater than 51inches approaches the range finder. If the photo eye or light curtain(not shown) detects a box greater than 51 inches in height, the rangefinder processor adds 51 inches to the measured height of the box. Thatis, because a shift in a code word moves into the repeated portion ofthe pattern when a box is greater than 51 inches, the measured height ofthe box would be the actual height minus 51 inches. For example, if abox having a height of 53 inches passes under range finder 102 and acode word from the first portion of the pattern shifts into the secondrepeated portion, then the measured height of the box would be based onthe amount of shift of the code word from the original location of thesecond occurrence of the code word and not based on the amount of theshift from the original first occurrence of the code word. As such, thecalculated height of the box would be two inches instead of 53 inches.Thus, to account for disambiguation, the system adds 51 inches to themeasured shift resulting in the correct height of the box.

After disambiguation, the range finder processor calculates the shift incode words. When the range finder is manufactured, a memory table isstored containing the pixel location of each code word at a far field(calibrated) which, in one embodiment is calculated at approximatelyseventy-six inches. Based on the pixel location of the shifted code wordand the pixel location in the far field for the code word, the code wordshift is calculated in pixel distance using the following formula:

Code Word Shift=Pixel location_(near field)−Pixel Location_(far field)

The range finder processor calculates the shift of each code word acrossthe top of the box for each scan in pixels. In one embodiment, the codeword shifts in pixels are used by the stored 5^(th) order polynomials(as described with respect to FIGS. 23A-23C) to calculate the height ofthe object being measured. In other embodiments, the shift in pixels canbe converted to inches using known techniques and the height calculatedusing the formula h=code word shift (inches)*tan θ.

The range finder also detects the right and left extents of the box bydetecting interruptions in code words, for example when two adjacentwords are not in the correct order. That is, because the laser lightprojects from the left or right side of the belt, the last code word onthe conveyor at the base of the box and the first code word on the topedge of the box will not be properly sequenced since a number of wordswill be projected onto the side of the box. Therefore, abrupt changes inthe unique sequence will alert the range finder processor that an edgeof the box has been detected. The same will be true on the oppositeextent of the box furthest from the laser source. Because the boxcreates a shadow, there will be an abrupt change in the code wordsequence at the furthest extent of the box and the belt.

At this point, a single slice profile of box 103 is stored in the rangefinder memory similar to prior art dimensioners. The range and extentinformation is transmitted to each camera and the information is used tofocus the cameras based on their location with respect to the conveyorbelt. Range finder 102 takes multiple scans of box 103 over time anduses the height and extent information to build a 3-D model of the box.The 3-D model of the object and any barcode data obtained by the camerasin the tunnel are transmitted to the host system for further processing.

Prior to operation of range finder 102 and cameras 106, 108 and 110, thedevices must be installed into a scanning tunnel system at the hostlocation. The range finder and cameras have been designed andmanufactured so that a scanning tunnel can be mechanically set-up andcalibrated (hard set-up) by a single technician. In particular, rangefinder brackets 266 and 268 contain machined locating pins (not shown)and three point contacting surfaces to accurately align range finder 102into substantially the same orientation and position in the field asthat used for calibration and set-up in-house. Additionally, camerachassis module 124 contains machined locating pins (not shown) and threepoint contact surfaces, which are also used to align the cameras intosubstantially the same orientation and position in the field as thatused for calibration and set-up during manufacture. The range finder andcameras are mounted to brackets that are permanently attached to thetunnel. In some embodiments, the mounting brackets may be integrallyformed with the tunnel. The tunnel mounting brackets, locating pins andthree point contact surfaces result in the range finder and camerashaving negligible assembly to assembly variations. As a result, therange finder's and cameras' factory calibrations and set-ups areunaffected by shipping or mounting in the tunnel system.

Referring to FIG. 28, at step 338, the technician surveys the conveyorsystem and makes reference marks on belt 104 parallel to the directionof a package's travel to indicate the center of the conveyor.Additionally, reference marks are made transverse to the direction oftravel at the left and right edges of the conveyor. The latter tworeference marks are used to adjust the range finder's yaw angle relativeto the conveyor. At step 340, the range finder is loosely attached tothe scanning tunnel's structural member. At step 342, a plumb bob isattached to a center of the range finder having a 75.5±½ a inch length.The range tinder is then positioned above the belt so that the plumb bobtouches the conveyor surface, the structural member is secured in place,the mount assembly is moved across the conveyor until the plumb bob iscentered above the center reference mark, and the mount is secured tothe tunnel structure. At step 344, the technician attaches the powersupply to the range finder and observes the position of the rangefinder's laser pattern on the conveyor belt relative to the tworeference yaw marks. The yaw screw adjustments are manipulated until thelaser pattern is parallel to the yaw reference marks.

At step 346, a calibration package (24 to 36 inches high) is placed onthe conveyor in the center of the range finder's field of view thatproduces a range measurement of 40 to 52 inches. Once the box is inplace, the technician observes the position of the range finder's laserpattern on the vertical sides of the package and manipulates a pitchadjustment screw until the laser pattern is parallel to the verticaledges of the package.

Referring to FIGS. 30A-30C, one embodiment of range finder 102 may beequipped with a roll adjustment display panel 350. Display panel 350 maycontain five led lights 352 a-352 e that illuminate depending on theroll angle of the range finder with respect to a surface below the rangefinder. At step 348 (FIG. 28) and referring particularly to FIG. 30A,light 352 a is illuminated indicating that the range finder is tiltedwith respect to the conveyor surface. Thus, display panel 350 indicatesthat the technician should adjust the roll adjustment screw. Referringto FIG. 30B, light 352 e is illuminated indicating that the rolladjustment screw was over adjusted causing the range finder to be tiltedin the opposite direction from that shown in FIG. 30A. Consequently, thetechnician must manipulate the roll adjustment screw in the oppositedirection until center light 352 c illuminates, as shown in FIG. 30C.Once center light 352 c illuminates and stays lit, the technician maylock down all adjustment screws and fasteners.

The roll of the range finder is determined by the image sensed by therange finder's image sensor. In particular, the range finder calculatesits distance to the conveyor at points across the belt and determines ifone side of the range finder is further from the belt surface than theother side. Thus, as the roll adjustment screw is turned, real-timereadings are taken to determine the effect of the adjustment. Once thedistance measurements across the belt are substantially equal (withinacceptable tolerances), center light 352 c illuminates. It should beunderstood that other display panels may be used in place of the LEDs,for example a LCD screen and bar graph. In addition to the technicianusing manual roll adjustment screws to change the roll of range finder102, the range finder may include servo motors operatively connected tothe mounting brackets to allow range finder 102 to automaticallyself-level itself with respect to the face of the conveyor belt.

With regard to the camera installation, referring to FIG. 29, at step354, the technician surveys the conveyor system and makes a referencemark on the conveyor to indicate an approximate location of the camera'sillumination beam with respect to the range finder's laser pattern. Thisinformation is provided on the CAD drawings associated and shipped withthe scanning tunnel. At step 356, the camera is installed to the cameramount assembly on the tunnel. To ease installation, the camera may betaken apart to reduce the overall weight of the camera duringinstallation, which allows for a single technician to mount and securethe camera chassis module to the tunnel. Once camera chassis module 128is secured to the tunnel frame, illumination module 124 andcommunications module 130 may be assembled on the chassis module. Atstep 358, the coarse position of the camera is adjusted to position thecamera illumination beam in the center of the conveyor. Depending on thetunnel system, a mirror may be installed to redirect the camera laserand sensor field of view. In one embodiment, the mirror may be set toone of its working angles of 8, 30 or 45 degrees, and the mirror iscentered relative to the camera. The mirror redirects the cameras fieldof view allowing the camera to be mounted in various orientations withrespect to conveyor 24. At step 360, the power and networking cables areconnected to the camera and the technician verifies that the camerapasses its power-on self-test. The technician repeats the camera set-upprocedure for each camera in the scanning tunnel. At this point, theinitial hard set-up of the scanning tunnel is complete and the rangefinder and cameras are ready for electrical calibration (soft set-up).

During the soft set-up, the range finder and cameras are calibrated todetermine their x-axis, y-axis, z-axis positions and roll, pitch and yawangles with respect to the conveyor coordinate system. Additionally, thecamera's ambient light compensation, the tachometer scale factor, theconveyor's region of interest, the symbol decode engine options, hostcommunication parameters, Ethernet network communication parameters andthe information transmit point are all set-up and/or calibrated. Forpurposes of discussion and referring to FIG. 31, coordinate systems 362,364 and 366 are shown for each of the conveyor, the range finder and onecamera, a top mount camera, respectively. It should be understood bythose skilled in the art that each camera will have its own uniquecoordinate system with respect to the conveyor coordinate system.Calibration of the range finder and cameras allow for a point in theconveyor coordinate system to be mapped to a point in the camera's orrange finder's coordinate system and vice versa so that the location ofeach camera with respect to the range finder can be established.Knowledge of the location and orientation of the cameras with respect tothe range finder allows for the cameras to properly focus on objectstraveling on the conveyor system based on information provided by therange finder.

In prior art systems, scanning tunnel cameras were calibrated by firstmounting the camera in an exact position and orientation using manualpositioning devices (i.e. levels, angles, etc.). Once the cameras weremounted, a computer was connected to each individual camera and thecamera was calibrated through an extensive programming routine andvisual orientation by the technician setting up the tunnel. These priorart calibration techniques required a skilled technician to participatein every tunnel set-up, which is time consuming and expensive. Thepresent invention seeks to eliminate the need for highly skilledtechnicians and timely manual calibration methods. In the presentinvention, calibration of the scanning tunnel is performed through acombination of static and dynamic calibration routines using one or morecalibration boxes that are placed within the scanning tunnel. The staticcalibration routine allows for a lower skilled tunnel operator ortechnician to set-up and calibrate the tunnel and establish the tunnel'soperating region of interest for both the range finder and the cameras,as explained in more detail below.

Referring to FIG. 32, one embodiment of a calibration box 366 is shownhaving a top surface 368, a front surface 370, a right side surface 372,a left side surface 374, a back surface 376 and a bottom surface 378. Aseries of indicia, for example, barcodes 380 are placed across the top,bottom, sides, front and back of the box in various positions andorientations. The barcodes are oriented in different positions to ensurethat the camera's line scanner will read at least one barcode in anyorientation on the belt's surface. Therefore, for each barcode, alladjacent barcodes are rotated ninety degrees, thereby ensuring that nomatter the box orientation at least one barcode can be read. Eachbarcode contains a calibration box code number, a box face indicator(i.e., front, top, left, right, back or bottom face) and an offset ofthe beginning of the code from the box x- or y-axis, which has an originat the bottom left corner of the box.

FIG. 32A illustrates one embodiment of a single side 372 of calibrationbox 366 having sixteen distinct barcodes 380 a-380 p. The location andorientation of each barcode is known to the system. For example, adistance 386 of each bar in barcode 380 a is known with respect to abottom edge 382 (x-axis position), and a distance 388 for the first baris know with respect to an edge 384 (y-axis position). The same is truefor every other barcode 380 b-380 p with respect to the bottom leftcorner (the origin of the box). No two similar barcodes should beadjacent in any column or row since the greater the distance between twoidentical barcodes, the better the calibration results. The same holdstrue for adjacent sides of calibration box 366 in the event that onecamera can read two adjacent sides of the calibration box. It should beunderstood that many different types of indicia may be used including,but not limited to, one-dimensional barcodes, two dimensional barcodesor other suitable graphics capable of conveying information.

Referring to FIG. 33, the soft set-up consists of two parts: a staticcalibration where calibration boxes are positioned on the conveyor beltin known locations while the conveyor is not moving, and a dynamiccalibration where calibration boxes are passed through the tunnel systemon conveyor 104. The purpose of static calibration is to determine thex-axis, y-axis and z-axis and the pitch, roll and yaw angle of the rangefinder with respect to the conveyor belt. Additionally, starting valuesof the x-axis, y-axis and z-axis and the pitch, roll and yaw angle ofeach camera is also determined. Through dynamic calibration, the x-axis,y-axis and z-axis and the pitch, roll and yaw angle of each camera isrefined.

Static Calibration

For the static calibration, the items to be calibrated for the rangefinder are its x-axis, y-axis, z-axis position and its pitch, roll andyaw angle with respect to the conveyor belt. The items to be calibratedfor each camera are its x-axis, y-axis, z-axis position and its pitch,roll and yaw angle with respect to the conveyor belt, and the camera'sambient light compensation. Additional calibration items include theconveyor's tachometer scale factor (counts/inch) and the conveyor'sregion of interest (ROI). The dynamic calibration allows for the systemto fine tune the position attributes that were measured during staticcalibration by using barcodes found on the calibration boxes.

The conveyor's ROI is the segment of the range finder's field of view(FOV) across the conveyor in which objects to be scanned will bepresent. Thus, the term “ROI” as used herein refers to that portion ofthe belt of interest for the particular application by the customer. Forexample, referring to FIG. 33A, the potential ROI extends between pointsROI₁ and ROI₂, which is the FOV of the ranger with respect to the belt.In some applications, the customer only expects to read data over alimited ROI such as the right twenty inches of the belt (the ROI definedbetween ROI₁ and ROI₃). That is, the customer knows that packages aregoing to be loaded onto the conveyor belt along the right side edge thatwill be no wider than fifteen inches so that no box should ever appearoutside of this range. As a result, the ROI for this customerapplication is the right most twenty inches of the belt. It should beunderstood that it is not necessary for the ROI to include one or moreof the right or left edges of the belt or the belt's center. In fact,the ROI may be any portion of the belt between ROI₁ and ROI₂. To beginthe soft set-up of the scanning tunnel, at step 390, the technicianattaches a computer to the tunnel network and uses an internet browser,for example Internet Explorer, Netscape or Mozilla, or other suitablebrowsers, to access a graphical user interface (GUI). The software willautomatically detect whether the cameras and range finder require a softset-up calibration and, if so, the GUI indicates that a calibration isnecessary and provides a web link to a calibration webpage in whichdirections for the calibration process are provided in real-time.

At step 392, the technician is prompted to import a tunnel configurationdata file, which contains initial factory estimates of camera and rangerposition within the particular tunnel structure. In particular, the datafile may contain one or more of the following pieces of informationregarding the tunnel system:

Number of cameras Number of range finders Choice of units: English ormetric Belt speed: feet/minute Tachometer scale factor Tachometer inputmode Fixed focus distance Light curtain offset Package detect input modeBelt width: 1 to 50 inches Barcode table: Aztec, codabar, code_11,code_128, code_39, code_93, datamatrix, etc. Minimum side-to-sidespacing: 1″ Max: package size: 78″ × 36″ × 36″ (L, W, H) Min: packagesize: 1″ × 2″ × 1″ (L, W, H) Camera Data: name, type and mountingposition, focus mode, gain table, transmit point, etc. Server Value:camera acts as the server Minimum spacing between packages: 12″ Focussource: fixed, range finder, light curtain Trigger source: focus,trigger or software Ranger configuration: name, type and mountingpositionOnce the tunnel configuration file is imported, at step 394, eachcamera's illumination is turned on and the installer is prompted by theGUI to adjust each cameras mirror angle to center its illuminationpattern on the reference marks placed on the belt during the hardset-up, as previously described. Once centered, the technician clicks abutton on the GUI and the system turns off the cameras' illuminationpatterns.

At step 396, the GUI directs the technician to remove all items fromconveyor belt 104 and prompts the technician to initiate the rangefinder's static belt calibration process. At step 398, the range finderfirst determines the static across the belt range profile for the faceof conveyor belt 104. That is, the range finder determines the distanceto the belt and the left and right extents of the belt by projecting itpattern onto the belt and reading the results. Referring to FIG. 34A,the GUI then instructs the technician to place a first calibration box366A onto conveyor 104 in the range finder field of view 312 (FIG. 19)at three separate locations with respect to the ROI. This step iscarried out with the conveyor belt in a static condition, i.e. notmoving. The first at the right edge (RE1) of the ROI, the second at theleft edge (LE1) of the ROI and the last at the approximate center of theROI. For ease of explanation, it is assumed for this discussion that theROI equals the full width of belt 104 and extends between ROI₁ and ROI₂(FIG. 33A). If, however, the ROI was to extend between ROI₁ and R013,then the calibration box would instead be placed at the edge of R013 andnot at R012.

At each of the static positions, the range finder records the firstcalibration box's left (LE1, LE2 and LE3) and right (RE1, RE2 and RE3)extents and its height. Referring to FIG. 34B, after calibration withthe first box, the GUI instructs the technician to place a secondcalibration box 366 b onto conveyor 104 at the center of the ROI and therange finder again determines the second calibration box's extents RE3and LE3 and range. Based on the actual measurements, the system computesthe extents of the conveyor's ROI. The range finder determines itsy-axis position with respect to the center of the ROI based on the rangefinder's center pixel location with respect to the center of the ROI.During calibration, the x-axis position of the range finder, withrespect to the conveyor belt's coordinates, is set to zero. Referring toFIGS. 34A and 34B, the range finder's x-axis, y-axis and z-axispositions are calculated by the following formulas:

Ranger X position=0

Ranger Y position=Right side ROI(RE1)−((Right side ROI(RE1)−Left sideROI(LE1))/2

Ranger Z position=(((Ht _(calbox1)+Range_(calbox1))+(Ht_(calbox2)+Range_(calbox2)))/2*cos(Range Finder_(pitch angle))

Belt Width=RightSide ROI(RE)−LeftSide ROI(LE)

Where “Ht” is the actual height of the calibration boxes. “Range” is themeasured height of the calibration boxes and Range Finder pitch angle isobtained from the CAD drawings shipped with the tunnel.

Based on the “across the conveyor” ranger profile data and the ROIcalculated in step 398, range finder 102 computes the roll angle betweenits self and conveyor 104 and determines the across the belt length overwhich range data is valid for computing the roll angle. The accuracy ofthe left and right position measurements are typically on the order of±0.25 inches and the measured range height is typically on the order of±0.1 inches. Therefore, if the measured height information differs bymore than a predetermined value, for example 0.35 inches from thecalibration box's known height, the system will warn the technician.

For example, if belt 104 was 50 inches in width and the ROI includedonly the right most 25 inches of the belt, then the Ranger X and Ypositions would be calculated as follows:

Ranger X position=0

Ranger Y position=50″(RE1)−((50″(RE1)−25″(LE1))/2)=37.5″

Thus, the origin for the range finder would be at X=0″ and Y=37.5inches, which is offset from the actual ranger Y axis by 12.5 inches.

At step 400, for each top, front and rear mounted camera, the camerasare calibrated using the first and second calibration boxes, which areeach placed in a static position on conveyor 104 in the cameras' fieldsof view at the extents of conveyor ROI (ROI₁ and ROI₂, FIG. 33A). Forexample, for each box the GUI instructs the technician to place thecalibration box into the center of the camera's field of view so thatthe camera auto-focuses onto a top, side or bottom of each calibrationbox and captures the focal distance at the extents of the ROI. The focaldistance is determined by the amount of movement required for the camerato obtain a sharp image of the calibration box. Based on the focaldistance, the camera determines the range from the calibration box tothe image sensor based on the 5^(th) order polynomial derived during thecamera's initial in-house calibration and stores focus information inthe camera's memory. In addition, for each calibration box, the systemautomatically makes changes to the camera's video gain table tocompensate for the ambient light levels in the tunnel. Each camera canprovide a visual or audio signal to let the technician know that thedata has been captured, for example a sound or the flash of the camera'sillumination LEDs.

Front, Top and Rear Mounted Cameras

From the height data of the first and second calibration boxes, asmeasured by the range finder and the top, front and rear mounted camerasusing the camera's auto-focus technique, the system establishes aninitial z-coordinate for the position of each front, top and rearmounted camera and range finder relative to the conveyor belt.Additionally, the system computes a linear relationship between theheight measurement detected by the range finder and the camera's focuscommand for use in focusing the camera based on range findermeasurements. Referring again to FIG. 31, the following formulas areused to determine the camera's focus command and an initial value of thecamera's z-position:

Focus CMD=RangeY*((Focus CMD _(Calbox1)−Focus CMD_(Calbox2))/(Range_(Calbox1)−Range_(Calbox2)))

Camera Z=(((Ht _(calbox1)+Range 1)+(Ht _(calbox2)+Range2))/2)*Cos(Camera_(Pitch Angle))

Camera_(yaw)=0

Camera_(roll)=0

Where Ht is the actual height of the calibration boxes, Focus CMD is themeasured height of the calibration boxes based on the camera's focustable, RangeY is the calculated position in the range finder step of thebox's edge position relative to the range finder's ROI and Camera pitchangle is obtained from the CAD drawings shipped with the tunnel. Thecamera's roll and yaw angle are assumed to be zero degrees during staticcalibration. Thus, these calculations provide an initial measurement ofthe camera's position in the conveyor coordinate system and for therelationship of the camera's focus command with respect to the rangefinder's measured position and the height of each camera.

Side Mounted Cameras

Referring to FIG. 35, for each side read camera in the tunnel the GUIinstructs the technician to place the calibration boxes at two positionsin the camera's field of view: the first is at the conveyor's ROI rightedge close to the camera and the second is at the conveyor's ROI leftedge farther away from the camera. For each box, at each position, thecamera uses its auto-focus technique to measure the focal distance tothe object. Thus, two focal points are obtained for each box F1 and F2,which are used to determine the relationship between the range finder'sy-axis coordinate and the side camera's focus command, and to determinethe yaw angle of the camera, which is the angle the camera is disposedat with respect to the x-axis of the conveyor system. It should beunderstood that the position of the static calibration boxes in they-axis should be positioned in substantially the same y-axis positionfor the camera as that for the range finder i.e., at the right and leftextents of the ROI. Consequently, the focal distance measured by thecamera along the y-axis can be correlated to the y-axis measurement fromthe range finder.

In addition to the above measurements, the camera adjusts its video gaintable to account for differences in the ambient light conditions in thetunnel. The system uses the following formulas to calculate the focusdistance in the y-axis and the yaw angle of each side camera:

Focus(y)=((Range(y)−RE1)*((F2−F1)/(RE2−RE1)))+F1

Yaw Angle=arcsin((RE2−RE1)/F2−F1))

The above equation for Focus(y) is used during the operation of thetunnel system to set the side read cameras' focus given a range positionacross the conveyor (y-axis) during operation. That is, for any giveny-axis position of a box edge determined by the range finder, the cameracan calculate the correct focus command for that specific point. Saidanother way, as the range finder provides y-axis position informationfor a box edge, the camera can dynamically change its focus toaccurately read data at the specific y-axis position transmitted by therange finder.

Bottom Read Camera

If the tunnel includes an optional bottom read camera, the GUI instructsthe technician to place a calibration box onto the center of theconveyor in the top camera's field of view. The bottom read camera thenuses its auto-focus to measure the focal distance to the box. It shouldbe understood that when a bottom read camera is used, conveyor 104 isformed from two adjacent conveyors with a sufficient gap between them toallow the camera to read the bottom of a box. The bottom read camerawill also make changes to its video gain table to adjust for ambientlight conditions. Unlike a top, front, rear or side read camera, thebottom cameras focal distance does not require adjustment since theheight between the camera and an object should never change.

In one embodiment, the calibration boxes should be chosen from one ormore of the following sized boxes:

Box Number Dimensions (L by W by H) in inches 1 3 by 5 by 9 2 6 by 12 by18 3 15 by 15 by 36One of skill in the art would understand that other sized boxes can beused for the calibration boxes. The key being that the calibration boxesvary in size to provide the greatest accuracy in the initial staticcalibration measurements. Therefore, the above sized boxes represent oneof many combinations of box sizes.

Tachometer Scale Factor

Referring again to FIG. 29, at step 402, in some embodiments, atachometer scale factor is calibrated to correct for inaccuracies inmeasured distance per tachometer pulse. In particular, if, for example,a tachometer is manufactured to output a predefined number of tachometerpulses per inch, when installed in the field, the tachometer may providea different number of pulses per inch. Thus, a tachometer scale factoris calculated to compensate for any inaccuracies using a tachometercalibration box having a length greater than 72 inches and a width andheight of about 3 inches. Once the technician places the tachometercalibration box on the conveyor, a button on the GUI is pressed, and thebox is moved through the tunnel by conveyor 104.

Range finder 102 computes the tachometer scale factor based on thecalibration box's measured length in tachometer counts compared to itsactual length in inches, which is known. The length in tachometer pulsesis then compared to the known length in tachometer pulses and a scalefactor is calculated. It should be understood that greater accuracy incalculating the tachometer scale factor is achieved when the calibrationbox is longer than 72 inches, and a less accurate scale factor iscomputed when the box is less than 72 inches. To improve the accuracy inthe X-axis, the scale factor calibration box can be run through thesystem several times and the result of each run can be averaged.

It should be understood that the tachometer scale factor can bedetermined during the dynamic calibration step, as explained in greaterdetail below.

During the scale factor calibration step, each of the camerascontinuously acquire images of the conveyor and tachometer calibrationbox, compare its current image to its “no object image” and record thetachometer value when the camera initially detects the box and when itno longer detects the box in its field of view. Based on thisinformation and information obtained from the range finder, the cameracomputes the tachometer offset (TachOffset) between itself and rangefinder 102, which is equal to the average of the difference in countsbetween the range finder and each camera's “object present” and “notpresent” transitions. The offset and camera's pitch angle (from CADdrawings) are used to set the initial x-axis position of the top, frontand rear cameras with respect to the range tinder for any y-axis rangevalue using the following formula:

Camera X=Counts*Tach scale factor+((Camera Z-Ht_(TachCalBox))*tan(Camera_(Pitch Angle)))

For each side read camera, the camera computes the tachometer offsetbetween itself and range finder 102, which is equal to the difference incounts between the range finder and each camera's “object present” and“not present” transitions. Using the range finder's y-axis location ofthe calibration box, the count offset and the cameras pitch angle (fromCAD drawings), the side read cameras are able to computer the x-axisoffset between themselves and the range finder for any y-axis rangevalue using the following formula:

Camera X_(Left-side camera)=(Range(y)−LE)/tan(Camera_(Pitch Angle))+TachOffset)

Camera X_(Right-side camera)=(Range(y)−RE)/tan(Camera_(Pitch Angle))+TachOffset)

The Camera_(Pitch Angle) is the angle listed in the CAD drawingsprovided with the tunnel. Once the static calibration is completed, thesystem will have calculated initial range finder X, Y, and Z positions,and the position of each camera (X, Y, Z) relative to the conveyor andrange finder. The technician is then directed to the system to move tothe dynamic calibration phase of the soft set-up where the anglepositions of each of the components are refined.

Dynamic Calibration

The static calibration technique described above provides approximatevalues for the cameras' position with respect to the range finder andconveyor belt by performing a dynamic calibration. The dynamiccalibration is carried out by running calibration boxes containingbarcodes or other indicia through the scanning tunnel so that thecalibration boxes can be imaged. From the imaged data, the system isconfigured to calculate precise x-axis, y-axis, z-axis and pitch, rolland yaw angles for each camera. Referring again to FIG. 33, at step 404,the dynamic calibration begins when the GUI instructs the technician toplace the first calibration box onto the conveyor to the left-center ofits ROI. As the object travels along the conveyor, range finder 102detects its presence and records its height (z-axis), left and rightedges (y-axis) and tachometer values (x-axis). When the object reaches acamera's field of view, the camera records the object. Once the firstcalibration box exits the tunnel, the GUI instructs the technician toplace the second calibration box onto conveyor 104 to the right-centerof its ROI. As the object passes through the tunnel, range finder 102detects its presence and records its height (z-axis), left and rightedges (y-axis) and tachometer values (x-axis). When the object reaches acameras field of view, the camera records the object. From theinformation collected by the range finder for each box, the systemanalyzes the range data and computes a rectangular outline of thecalibration box top surface with respect to the conveyor belt.

At step 406, the dynamic calibration for each camera is carried out. Fortop, front, rear and bottom read cameras, the system creates a 2D imageof each calibration box from its collected data of 1D scans, analyzesthe images and locates the position of the barcodes on the calibrationbox. The camera can detect the spacing of the bars of each detectedbarcode and the distances of the bars with respect to the edges of thecalibration box. The system uses this information to calculate thecameras pitch angle with respect to the conveyor belt. For the left andright side cameras, the system computes the camera's roll angle withrespect to the conveyor belt. Additionally, from the X-Y center and yawangle of the rectangles formed from the range finder data, and from theX-Y center and yaw angle of the barcodes on the top of the boxes, thesystem computes the XY position and yaw of the top camera with respectto the ranger. It's assumed that the yaw angle of the ranger withrespect to the conveyer is zero.

Based on the detected Y pixel locations for the barcodes in the 2D imageof the front (rear) side of the calibration box and the barcodes actualspacing in inches, the system computes the measured spacing byconverting the found locations into inches using the camera's dots perinch (DPI) and lines per inch (LPI) values. For top, front-top,rear-top, and bottom read cameras, the camera pitch angle is determinedby the following formula:

Camera_(Roll) =a tan(measured spacing/actual spacing)

A similar computation is performed using the measured spacing from theimage data of the left (right) side of the box to compute the topcamera's roll angle.

Camera_(Roll) =a tan(measured spacing/actual spacing)

Referring to FIGS. 37A and 37B, the range finder's pitch angle withrespect to the conveyer is computed by analyzing the range (height) dataof the box as a function of its conveyer position. Specifically, theslope of the range (height) data as the box enters (or leaves dependingon the sign of the pitch angle) represents the range finder's pitchangle. The larger the pitch angle (for a given conveyer speed) the morerange sample of the front (or rear) surface of the box will be acquired.Thus, using the following formulas, the range finder's pitch angle andZ-axis position can be measured.

Ranger Finder_(Pitch)=slope of calibration box height data

H=Belt Height−((Calibration Box Height/cos(Ranger Finder_(Pitch)))

Ranger Finder_(Z)=(Range to belt at Range Finder's centerpixel)*cos(Ranger Finder_(Pitch))

Because the distance along the X-axis is measurable, the slope can becalculated from the measured distances.

Top, Front-Top, Rear-Top, and Bottom Read Cameras:

Referring to FIG. 38, using the best focus position (Focus CMD) andCamera Z position calculated above at step 400 with respect to FIG. 31,and the camera's pitch angle calculated at step 406 above, the followingformulas can be used to fine tune the camera's X-axis and Z-axispositions and the calculated camera pitch angle.

Camera_(Z)=(FocusCMD*cos(Camera_(Pitch)))+CalBox_(z)

Camera_(Y)=(CameraBoxCenter_(Y)−RangerBoxCenter_(Y))+Ranger_(Y)

Camera_(X)=((Tach Counts)*(TachScale))+((Ranger_(Z)+Camera_(Z))*tan(Camera_(Pitch)))

Where CameraBoxCenter_(Y) is the measured center Y-axis position by thecamera of the center of the calibration box and the RangerBoxCenter_(Y)is the measured center Y-axis position by the range finder of the centerof the calibration box. Tach Counts is the X-axis distance in countsbetween the range finder and camera as determined in the previous steps.Still referring to FIG. 38, P_(r) is the pitch angle of the rangefinder, P_(c) is the pitch angle of the camera, Z_(r) is the Z-axiscoordinate of the range finder, and Z_(c) is the Z-axis coordinate ofthe camera. The following relationship exists between these values:

Z _(r)=Range*cos(P _(r))

Z _(c) =Z _(r) −dZ

Focus=Zc/cos(P _(c))=(Z _(r) −dZ)/cos(P _(c))

dZ=Z _(r)−((Focus)*(cos(P _(c)))=((Range)*(cos(P _(r)))−((Focus)*(cos(P_(c)))

Side Read Cameras

Referring to FIG. 39, the side cameras set their focus based on aninitial Y-axis position of each calibration box as reported by the rangefinder as it entered the range finder's FOV. Each camera then enters acontinuous acquire mode in which it compares its current image to a“no-object” image. When a camera detects the presence of a calibrationbox it records its tachometer count. The tachometer count differencebetween the range finder and camera for two objects at different Y-axislocations establishes the camera's relationship for tachometer offsetfor any given range finder Y-axis value. After detecting the presence ofa calibration box, the camera collects a series of images representingthe barcodes on the side of the calibration box. Initially roll and yawof side read cameras will be assumed to be zero. Optionally, the targetposition data could be analyzed to determine yaw and roll angle of thecamera with respect to the conveyer.

The direction of the camera's Y-axis with respect to the range findercan be established using the change in height of the objects as reportedby the range finder to the camera's Y-axis dimension of the object.Additionally, the camera can verify its mounting location (right or leftside, front or rear read) from the range finder's Y-axis position,camera focus distance, and tachometer offset of the two calibrationboxes.

Camera_(X)=(T(RE1)*Tach Inch per Count)−(F ₁*cos(Yaw Angle))

Camera_(Y) =RE1−(F ₁*sin(Yaw Angle))

Camera_(Z)=0.5*(DPI(at near distance)*8192)

T(Range Y)=((Range Y−RE ₃)**((T ₄ −T ₃)/(RE ₄ −RE ₃)))+T ₃

Two calibration boxes of different sizes are placed onto the conveyorone at a time. The range finder records the tachometer value when thebox first enters its FOV. The camera sets a continuous acquire fixedfocus mode and compares the current images to a “no object” image. Whenan object is detected, the system records the tachometer reading. Thedifference in tachometer values between the range finder and the camerafor each object (values T₃ and T₄) at a given range finder y-axisposition is used to set the tachometer offset for any box across theconveyor.

Using the above formulas, values for the x-axis, y-axis and z-axiscoordinates and the camera's pitch, roll and yaw angles can becalculated, based on measurements using the camera's focus commandlook-up table. Consequently, the calculated values from dynamiccalibration may be off due to inaccuracies arising from calculatingdistances using the focus command look-up table. Moreover, during staticcalibration the pitch angle for each camera is assumed to be the valuelisted in the CAD drawings shipped with the scanning tunnel, and the yawand roll angle for each camera is assumed to be zero degrees. Lastly,during dynamic calibration, the position of the calibration box on thebelt cannot be controlled, and the boxes may be positioned in aninfinite number of orientations. Therefore, to compensate for theunknowns arising during dynamic calibration, the present system uses aseries of mathematical equations to map a known point on a given side ofa calibration box into pixel coordinates in a given camera since theonly known values in the system prior to dynamic calibration are thebarcode coordinates with respect to the box and the camera sensor pixelcoordinates, i.e. the coordinates of the pixels in the camera withrespect to the camera's coordinate system.

During dynamic calibration, each camera in the scanning tunnel capturesimages of the calibration box as it moves through the tunnel and storesthese images in memory. Using the following mapping techniques and theabove position equations, precise values for the cameras' x-axis, y-axisand z-axis and the pitch, roll and yaw angle may be calculated usingstandard non-linear optimization algorithms. That is, based on a seriesof “known constants,” “unknown fixed constants” and “unknown variableconstants,” the equations may be solved to determine the unknownconstants as explained in further detail below.

Referring to FIGS. 40A-40D, the coordinate system for the calibrationsheet (FIG. 40A), the calibration box (FIG. 40B), the conveyor system(FIG. 40C) and the camera (FIG. 40D) is shown. “Known system constants”are those parameters which are known to a reasonable degree ofcertainty, are set at calibration design time and will not change in thefuture. The significance of these values is that the calibrationprocedure does not need to solve for these constants, thereby speedingup and improving the accuracy of the solution of the unknown quantities.The “known system constants” include certain features about thecalibration box and the cameras, for example the dimensions of thecalibration box, the number of pixels in the cameras, and the field ofview angle of the cameras, as shown in the table below.

Description Variable Calibration Box Length L Calibration Box Width WCalibration Box Height H Number Sensor Pixels NumPixels Camera Field ofView Angle FOVNote that the constant FOV could be treated as an “unknown constant”should there be a certain degree of manufacturing variability thatintroduces an undesired loss of precision in the solution of theremaining parameters. Should more than one calibration box be requiredduring dynamic calibration, the parameters L, W and H should be indexedto indicate which box is being used for calibration at a given time.

“Unknown one-time system constants” are parameters that are constantthroughout one given calibration run but, can and most likely will bedifferent on the next calibration run. For each run of the calibrationprocedure, the exact position of the calibration box is subject tovariations in placement and orientation in the conveyor coordinatesystem—although there should be a fixed “up” side to the calibration boxin order to assist in face disambiguation.

Description Variable Calibration Box Rotation θ Calibration Box OffsetΔx_(box), Δy_(box)

“Unknown fixed constants” are parameters that are sought to be solved bythe calibration procedure. These values are fixed from calibration runto calibration run, but will vary from machine to machine. “Unknownfixed constants” include the lines per inch of the belt (i.e., thetachometer scale factor), and the camera x-axis, y-axis and z-axis andthe camera's pitch, roll and yaw angles with respect to the conveyorbelt.

Description Variable Belt Lines Per Inch LPI Camera Roll α_(i) CameraPitch β_(i) Camera Yaw γ_(i) Camera Offset Δx_(camera) _(i) ,Δy_(camera) _(i) , Δz_(camera) _(i)

The “coordinates” shown in FIGS. 40A-40D comprise all of the coordinatesystems used in the following transformation model. For ease of modelderivation, five separate coordinate systems are used:

-   -   1) Position on calibration box side relative to bottom left        corner of the box side;    -   2) Position on calibration box, relative to centroid of bottom        face of the box;    -   3) Position on belt, relative to point directly underneath top        camera;    -   4) Position in 3-space, relative to each camera; and    -   5) Pixel coordinates in given camera.

Description Variable Coordinate on Calibration Barcode Page i, jCoordinate relative to Calibration Box x_(box), y_(box), z_(box)Coordinate relative to Belt x_(belt), y_(belt), z_(belt) Coordinaterelative to camera i x_(camera) _(i) , y_(camera) _(i) , z_(camera) _(i)Pixel Coordinate x_(pixel), y_(pixel)

In order to transform the barcode coordinates into camera coordinates,the barcode coordinates are first transformed from a point on acalibration barcode sheet (FIG. 40A) to a coordinate in 3-space relativeto the calibration box using the following matrices for each of thecalibration box sides:

$\begin{matrix}{{Top}\mspace{14mu} {Side}} & {{Bottom}\mspace{14mu} {Side}} \\{\begin{bmatrix}x_{box} \\y_{box} \\z_{box}\end{bmatrix} = {{\begin{bmatrix}1 & 0 \\0 & 1 \\0 & 0\end{bmatrix}\begin{bmatrix}i \\j\end{bmatrix}} + \begin{bmatrix}{{- L}/2} \\{{- W}/2} \\H\end{bmatrix}}} & {\begin{bmatrix}x_{box} \\y_{box} \\z_{box}\end{bmatrix} = {{\begin{bmatrix}{- 1} & 0 \\0 & 1 \\0 & 0\end{bmatrix}\begin{bmatrix}i \\j\end{bmatrix}} + \begin{bmatrix}{L/2} \\{{- W}/2} \\0\end{bmatrix}}} \\{{Left}\mspace{14mu} {Side}} & {{Right}\mspace{14mu} {Side}} \\{\begin{bmatrix}x_{box} \\y_{box} \\z_{box}\end{bmatrix} = {{\begin{bmatrix}0 & 0 \\{- 0} & 0 \\0 & 1\end{bmatrix}\begin{bmatrix}i \\j\end{bmatrix}} + \begin{bmatrix}{{- L}/2} \\{W/2} \\0\end{bmatrix}}} & {\begin{bmatrix}x_{box} \\y_{box} \\z_{box}\end{bmatrix} = {{\begin{bmatrix}0 & 0 \\1 & 0 \\0 & 1\end{bmatrix}\begin{bmatrix}i \\j\end{bmatrix}} + \begin{bmatrix}{L/2} \\{{- W}/2} \\0\end{bmatrix}}} \\{{Front}\mspace{14mu} {Side}} & {{Back}\mspace{14mu} {Side}} \\{\begin{bmatrix}x_{box} \\y_{box} \\z_{box}\end{bmatrix} = {{\begin{bmatrix}1 & 0 \\0 & 0 \\0 & 1\end{bmatrix}\begin{bmatrix}i \\j\end{bmatrix}} + \begin{bmatrix}{{- L}/2} \\{{- W}/2} \\0\end{bmatrix}}} & {\begin{bmatrix}x_{box} \\y_{box} \\z_{box}\end{bmatrix} = {{\begin{bmatrix}{- 1} & 0 \\0 & 0 \\0 & 1\end{bmatrix}\begin{bmatrix}i \\j\end{bmatrix}} + \begin{bmatrix}{L/2} \\{W/2} \\0\end{bmatrix}}}\end{matrix}$

It is assumed that every vertical barcode sheet is placed right-side up(so that the origin of the sheet is on the bottom left corner of thecalibration box side), and that the top sheet is placed so that itorigin is at the near left hand side. Next, the calibration boxcoordinates must be transformed into the belt coordinates. Because thecalibration box may be placed on the belt at an unknown rotationrelative to the belt, the following matrix is used to transform thebarcode coordinates represented in box coordinates into conveyor beltcoordinates:

$\begin{bmatrix}x_{belt} \\y_{belt} \\z_{belt}\end{bmatrix} = {{\begin{bmatrix}{\cos \; \theta} & {{- \sin}\; \theta} & 0 \\{\sin \; \theta} & {\cos \; \theta} & 0 \\0 & 0 & 1\end{bmatrix}\begin{bmatrix}x_{box} \\y_{box} \\z_{box}\end{bmatrix}} + \begin{bmatrix}{\Delta \; x_{box}} \\{\Delta \; y_{box}} \\0\end{bmatrix}}$

Once the barcode coordinates are represented in conveyor beltcoordinates, they must be converted to camera coordinates. The threerotations of each camera may be expressed as a single matrix as follows:

$R_{i} = {{{\begin{bmatrix}{\cos \; \alpha_{i}} & {{- \sin}\; \alpha_{i}} & 0 \\{\sin \; \alpha_{i}} & {\cos \; \alpha_{i}} & 0 \\0 & 0 & 1\end{bmatrix}\begin{bmatrix}1 & 0 & 0 \\0 & {\cos \; \beta_{i}} & {{- \sin}\; \beta_{i}} \\0 & {\sin \; \beta_{i}} & {\cos \; \beta_{i}}\end{bmatrix}}\begin{bmatrix}{\cos \; \gamma_{i}} & 0 & {{- \sin}\; \gamma_{i}} \\0 & 1 & 0 \\{\sin \; \gamma_{i}} & 0 & {\cos \; \gamma_{i}}\end{bmatrix}}.}$

Each camera has a given offset to the belt, and pitch, roll and yawangles that rotate the box within its field of view. Thus, the followingmatrix is used to convert from belt coordinates to camera coordinatesfor each camera:

$\begin{bmatrix}x_{{camera}_{i}} \\y_{{camera}_{i}} \\z_{{camera}_{i}}\end{bmatrix} = {{R_{i}\begin{bmatrix}x_{belt} \\y_{belt} \\z_{belt}\end{bmatrix}} + \begin{bmatrix}{\Delta \; x_{{camera}_{i}}} \\{\Delta \; y_{{camera}_{i}}} \\{\Delta \; z_{{camera}_{i}}}\end{bmatrix}}$

The above expression gives the 3-space coordinates for the calibrationbox. However, in a camera using a linear sensor such as that describedabove, 3D space is created by aggregating multiple 1D field of viewimages to create a 2D view. Because the direction of motion of the boxis along the belt (the x-axis), the direction of motion of the box interms of the belt coordinates is:

${\overset{\rightarrow}{v}}_{belt} = \begin{bmatrix}1 \\0 \\0\end{bmatrix}$

Converting this to camera coordinates, the direction of motion can berepresented as:

${\overset{\rightarrow}{v}}_{{camera}_{i}} = {R_{i}\begin{bmatrix}1 \\0 \\0\end{bmatrix}}$

Therefore, a point in 3-space would become visible when its location inthe camera's coordinate system has a zero value for its y location.

${\begin{bmatrix}x_{{camera}_{i}} \\y_{{camera}_{i}} \\z_{{camera}_{i}}\end{bmatrix} + {y_{{visible}_{i}}{\overset{\rightarrow}{v}}_{{camera}_{i}}}} = \begin{bmatrix}x_{{visible}_{i}} \\0 \\z_{{visible}_{i}}\end{bmatrix}$

This may in turn be rewritten in the following form:

$\begin{bmatrix}x_{{visible}_{i}} \\y_{{visible}_{i}} \\z_{{visible}_{i}}\end{bmatrix} = {\left( {\begin{bmatrix}1 & 0 & 0 \\0 & 0 & 0 \\0 & 0 & 1\end{bmatrix} - \frac{{\begin{bmatrix}0 & 0 & 0 \\1 & 0 & 1 \\0 & 0 & 0\end{bmatrix}{R_{i}\begin{bmatrix}0 & 1 & 0 \\0 & 0 & 0 \\0 & 0 & 0\end{bmatrix}}} + \begin{bmatrix}0 & 0 & 0 \\0 & 1 & 0 \\0 & 0 & 0\end{bmatrix}}{\lbrack 010\rbrack {R_{i}\begin{bmatrix}1 \\0 \\0\end{bmatrix}}}} \right)\begin{bmatrix}x_{{camera}_{i}} \\y_{{camera}_{i}} \\z_{{camera}_{i}}\end{bmatrix}}$

Note that the above equation will only have a zero denominator when therotation about the camera's x-axis is zero since the optical axis of thecamera will be parallel to the belt, resulting in a camera that is notable to “see” any points on the box—as it is only able to “see” pointsat its own elevation, which by design is higher than any object that isable to pass on the belt.

Finally, using similar triangles, the equation for mapping from a pointin three dimensional space to a pixel on the x-axis and y-axis of thesensor are as follows:

$x_{pixel} = {{\frac{NumPixels}{2\; {\tan \left( \frac{{FOV}_{i}}{2} \right)}}\frac{x_{{visible}_{i}}}{z_{{visible}_{i}}}} + \frac{NumPixels}{2}}$y_(pixel) = LPI  y_(visible_(i))

Cascading all of the steps up to, but not including, transforming topixel coordinates results in the following formula:

$\begin{bmatrix}x_{{visible}_{i}} \\y_{{visible}_{i}} \\z_{{visible}_{i}}\end{bmatrix} = {{\begin{bmatrix}a & b \\c & d \\e & f\end{bmatrix}\begin{bmatrix}i \\j\end{bmatrix}} + \begin{bmatrix}g \\h \\k\end{bmatrix}}$

for some value of a through k. Simply performing the matrix algebra withthe substitution of the appropriate values of the parameters will givethe values of the constants. One such equation will exist for each faceof the calibration box for each camera, for a total of 25 equations.Mapping into pixels results in the following formula:

$x_{pixel} = \frac{A + {Bi} + {Cj}}{D + {Ei} + {Fj}}$y_(pixel) = G + Hi + Kj ${{where}\begin{bmatrix}A \\B \\C \\D \\E \\F \\G \\H \\K\end{bmatrix}} = \begin{bmatrix}{\frac{NumPixels}{2}\left( {\frac{g}{\tan \frac{{FOV}_{i}}{2}} + k} \right)} \\{\frac{NumPixels}{2}\left( {\frac{a}{\tan \frac{{FOV}_{i}}{2}} + e} \right)} \\{\frac{NumPixels}{2}\left( {\frac{b}{\tan \frac{{FOV}_{i}}{2}} + f} \right)} \\k \\e \\f \\{{LPI}\mspace{14mu} h} \\{{LPI}\mspace{14mu} c} \\{{LPI}\mspace{14mu} d}\end{bmatrix}$

Furthermore, these equations may be inverted so that positions on anyside of the calibration box may be expressed in terms of the pixellocation on a given camera.

$i = \frac{{AK} - {CG} + {\left( {{FG} - {DK}} \right)x} + {Cy} - {Fxy}}{{CH} - {BK} + {\left( {{EK} - {FH}} \right)x}}$$j = {- \frac{{AH} - {BG} + {\left( {{EG} - {DH}} \right)x} + {By} - {Exy}}{{CH} - {BK} + {\left( {{FH} - {EK}} \right)x}}}$

It should be noted that a given pixel may map to points on more than oneside of the calibration box. Of course, not every side will in realitybe visible to every camera, so some logic must be performed to determinewhich sides of the calibration box are visible to the camera. In oneembodiment, the system may simply compute the z-axis coordinate for eachside using the following formula:

z=D+Ei+Fj

Therefore, choosing the size that is closest to the camera (smallest zcoordinate) may be assumed to be the side that is visible.

In solving for the above, the constants a-k are estimated values basedon the tunnel design and values obtained through static calibration. Bystarting with appropriate estimations of constants a through k, initialvalues for A to K may be calculated. Through the use of standardnon-linear optimization algorithms, for example the gradient decentmethod, the Nelder-Mead method or the simulated annealing method, theunknown parameters for each of the cameras may be determined by solvingthe equations until the predicted pixel location is as close to theactual pixel location as possible. Thus, in a scanning tunnel havingfive cameras, the above equations result in thirty-one degrees offreedom—i.e., x-axis, y-axis and z-axis and pitch, roll and yaw anglesfor each camera and the tachometer scale.

At step 408, the GUI presents the results of the calibration to theinstaller. The installer can accept the results, modify the results, orin cases where the results are out of tolerances, repeat some or all ofthe calibration steps. In addition, a summary page that contains thesettings for the system's decode engine is presented for the installer'sreview and acceptance. In step 410, the GUI prompts the user to clearall calibration boxes and other objects from the conveyor in preparationfor an empty conveyor test. The empty conveyor test is designed toverify that the system is not treating any conveyor artifacts, i.e. beltbubbles, seams, etc., as object triggers. Finally, at step 412, the GUIprompts the installer to export the calibration and set-up data foroffline storage. In addition, calibration data for each camera and therange finder is also stored in every camera. Therefore, when a camera orrange finder is replaced in the system, the calibration data can bedownloaded to the new component from any of the other components withouthaving to recalibrate the system. The ability to switch out componentarises from the three point mounting brackets and the networkedcomponents in the scanning tunnel. The mounting bracket ensures that areplacement component is mounted at the same coordinates and angles asthe component it is replacing—within acceptable tolerances. The networkallows information to be shared from existing components with thereplacement component, thereby eliminating the necessity for theinstaller to directly connect to the replacement component in order tocalibrate the component.

Once calibrated, the tunnel system can operate to scan barcodes andtrack packages placed on the conveyor belt. For example, given aparticular y-axis value of a package detected by the range finder, thecamera, based on its x-, y- and z-axis position with respect to therange finder, can determine when to expect that particular edge of thepackage associated with the range finder y-axis value to enter thecamera's fields of view. Moreover, the values calculated for the pitch,roll and yaw for each camera can be used to correct for distortion inthe captured images. For example, when a barcode is read by a camera,the distance between the bars of the code may be compressed or expandeddue to the camera's positioning in the scanning tunnel. Thus, one ofskill in the art of barcode scanning tunnels would understand how touses the calculated calibration values for these angles to compensatefor such image distortions.

In addition to distortion compensation, the automated calibrationtechnique described herein allows for a low level trained technician toquickly set-up a scanning tunnel in the field without the need for oneor more highly trained installers. Furthermore, the three point mountingbrackets allows for a scanning tunnel to be set-up in the field withnegligible differences from one set-up to another. Therefore, theauto-calibration techniques described herein allows for these negligibledifferences to be removed from the system. Finally, the describedapparatus and method of calibration allows for the parts of the system,for example a camera or parts of the camera, to be exchanged without theneed of recalibrating the entire scanning tunnel or individual camera.Instead, after a camera is replaced, the measured calibration values aredownloaded over the network to the new camera and the tunnel is ready tooperate without performing a time consuming recalibration of the newcamera or the overall scanning tunnel.

In the network scanning tunnel described above, cameras 106, 108 and 110may play different roles in a scanning tunnel. For example, one cameramay be assigned as the master camera. The master camera would receive atrigger signal and the system tachometer signal, and it would in turnprovide a trigger signal to the other cameras as well as focusinformation to other cameras in the tunnel. The remaining cameras in thetunnel system would be slave units that receive trigger and focusinformation from the master camera. In some embodiments, one camera maybe connected to the host system and would be responsible fortransmitting package data to the host system. It should be understoodthat in other embodiments, more than one camera may be connected to thehost system, or different cameras may be connected to different hostsystems.

During operation of the scanning tunnel, data collected by each camerafor a single box is combined into a single message, which is transmittedto the host system when the package reaches a transmit point. Bar codeand package information may be transferred between cameras over the100Base-T Ethernet network. Each of camera modules 106, 108 and 110 iscapable of correlating the messages from all of the other cameras in thetunnel system and generating a combined message. Thus, two cameramodules in the same tunnel system may be connected to different hostsystems, each with a different data format and transmit points.

While one or more preferred embodiments of the invention have beendescribed above, it should be understood that any and all equivalentrealizations of the present invention are included within the scope andspirit thereof. The embodiments depicted are presented by way of exampleonly and are not intended as limitations upon the present invention.Thus, it should be understood by those of ordinary skill in this artthat the present invention is not limited to these embodiments sincemodifications can be made. Therefore, it is contemplated that any andall such embodiments are included in the present invention as may fallwithin the scope and spirit thereof.

1. A method of calibrating a barcode scanning tunnel, said methodcomprising: a. providing a scanning tunnel having i. a moveable surface,ii. at least one range finder having an orientation, iii. at least onecamera having an orientation; and iv. at least one calibration objecthaving at least one indicia disposed in a predetermined relationship toone or more features of said at least one calibration object; b.capturing at least one image of said at least one calibration object bysaid at least one camera; c. electronically detecting said at least onecalibration object at least one indicia and said one or more objectfeatures; d. electronically calculating at least one component of saidat least one camera orientation with respect to said moveable surface inresponse to information obtained from said image and said at least onecalibration object at least one indicia.
 2. The method of calibrating abarcode scanning tunnel of claim 1, said method further comprisingelectronically calculating a height and extents of said at least onecalibration object by said at least one range finder by electronicallydetecting said one or more calibration object features.
 3. The method ofcalibrating a barcode scanning tunnel of claim 1, wherein said at leastone indicia is a barcode.
 4. The method of calibrating a barcodescanning tunnel of claim 3, further comprising a plurality of indiciadisposed in a predetermined relationship to said one or more features ofsaid at least one calibration object.
 5. The method of calibrating abarcode scanning tunnel of claim 1, wherein said at least one or morefeatures of said at least one calibration object further comprises atleast one of a length, width and height of said at least one calibrationobject.
 6. The method of calibrating a barcode scanning tunnel of claim1, further comprising providing a second calibration object having aplurality of indicia disposed in a predetermined relationship to one ormore features of said second calibration object.
 7. The method ofcalibrating a barcode scanning tunnel of claim 4, wherein saidpredetermined relationship between said at lease one indicia and saidone or more calibration object features further comprises knowing thedistance of said at least one indicia from one or more edges of saidcalibration object.
 8. The method of calibrating a barcode scanningtunnel of claim 6, wherein a. said at least one indicia is formed from aplurality of bars, and b. a spacing between adjacent bars of saidplurality of bars and the thickness of each bar of said plurality ofbars is know with respect to said at least one or more calibrationobject features.
 9. The method of calibrating a barcode scanning tunnelof claim 1, further comprising: a. placing said at least one calibrationobject at a first position on said moveable surface when said moveablesurface is stationary; b. placing said at least one calibration objectat a second position on said moveable surface when said moveable surfaceis stationary; c. capturing a first image of said at least onecalibration object at said first position; d. capturing a second imageof said at least one calibration object at said second position; and e.electronically calculating a region of interest based on informationcontained in aid first image and said second image related to said oneor more features of said at least one calibration object.
 10. The methodof calibrating a barcode scanning tunnel of claim 9, further comprisinga. placing said at least one calibration object at a first positiondistal from said at least one camera on said moveable surface when saidmoveable surface is stationary; b. placing said at least one calibrationobject at a second position proximate to said at least one camera onsaid moveable surface when said moveable surface is stationary; c.measuring a distance between said at least one calibration object atsaid first position and said at least one camera using the electronicsof said at least one camera; d. measuring a distance between said atleast one calibration object at said second position and said at leastone camera using the electronics of said at least one camera; and e.electronically calculating a height of said at least one camera withrespect to a surface of said moveable surface.
 11. The method ofcalibrating a barcode scanning tunnel of claim 1, said method furthercomprising calculating a positional relationship of said at least onecamera, said at least one moveable surface and said at least one rangefinder with respect to one another.
 12. The method of calibrating abarcode scanning tunnel of claim 11, wherein said electronicallycalculating at least one component of said at least one cameraorientation with respect to said moveable surface further comprises a.calculating a relationship of said at least one calibration objectindicia with respect to said one or more calibration object features;and b. comparing said calculated relationship to said predeterminedrelationship.
 13. The method of calibrating a barcode scanning tunnel ofclaim 1, wherein a. said moveable surface defines an x-axis in adirection of travel of said moveable surface, a z-axis normal to a topsurface of said moveable surface and a y-axis transverse to saiddirection of travel of said moveable surface; and b. said at least onecomponent of said orientation of said at least one camera with respectto said moveable surface is chosen from: i. a z-axis offset from saidmoveable surface; ii. a pitch angle with respect to said moveablesurface x-axis; iii. a yaw angle with respect to said moveable surfacez-axis; and iv. a roll angle with respect to said moveable surfacey-axis.
 14. The method of calibrating a barcode scanning tunnel of claim1, further comprising a. providing a plurality of cameras each having anorientation with respect to said moveable surface and said at least onerange finder; and b. networking said plurality of cameras and said atleast one range finder, wherein said networked plurality of cameras andsaid at least one range finder share information to electronicallycalculate at least one component of said orientation of said at leastone camera with respect to said at least one range tinder and saidmoveable surface.
 15. The method of calibrating a barcode scanningtunnel of claim 16, wherein a. said moveable surface defines an x-axisin a direction of travel of said moveable surface, a z-axis normal to atop surface of said moveable surface and a y-axis transverse to saiddirection of travel of said moveable surface; and b. said calculating atleast one component of said orientation of said at least one camera withrespect to said moveable surface further comprises calculating at leastone component of said orientation of each of said plurality of camera,wherein each of said at least one components are chosen from: i. anx-axis offset from said at least one range finder; ii. a y-axis offsetfrom said at least one range finder; iii. a z-axis offset from saidmoveable surface; iv. a pitch angle with respect to said moveablesurface x-axis; v. a yaw angle with respect to said moveable surfacez-axis; and vi. a roll angle with respect to said moveable surfacey-axis.
 16. The method of calibrating a barcode scanning tunnel of claim1, said step of electronically calculating at least one component forsaid at least one camera orientation further comprises solving aplurality of simultaneous equations using a non-linear optimizationmethod, wherein said plurality of simultaneous equations represent saidat least one camera orientation with respect to said moveable surface.17. The method of calibrating a barcode scanning tunnel of claim 16,wherein said non-linear optimization method is a Nelder-Mead method. 18.A method of calibrating a barcode scanning tunnel, said methodcomprising: a. providing a scanning tunnel having i. a moveable surface,ii. a range finder having an orientation with respect to said moveablesurface, iii. a plurality of cameras each having an orientation withrespect to said movable surface and said range finder; and iv. a firstand a second calibration object each having a plurality of indiciadisposed in predetermined relationships to one or more features of eachof said first and second calibration objects; b. capturing a first imageof said first calibration object by each of said plurality of cameras;c. capturing a second image of said second calibration object by each ofsaid plurality of cameras; d. electronically detecting each of saidfirst and said second calibration object plurality of indicia visible ineach of said first images and said second images and each of said one ormore object features of said first and said second calibration objectsby each of said plurality of cameras; and e. electronically calculatingat least one component for each of said plurality of camera orientationswith respect to said moveable surface in response to informationobtained from each of said first and said second camera images.
 19. Themethod of calibrating a barcode scanning tunnel of claim 18, said stepof electronically calculating at least one component for each of saidplurality of camera orientations further comprises solving a pluralityof simultaneous equations using a non-linear optimization method,wherein one of each of said plurality of simultaneous equationsrepresents said orientation of at least one of said plurality of cameraswith respect to said moveable surface.
 20. The method of calibrating abarcode scanning tunnel of claim 19, wherein said non-linearoptimization method is a Nelder-Mead method.
 21. A method of calibratinga barcode scanning tunnel, said method comprising: a. providing ascanning tunnel having i. a conveyor belt, ii. a range finder having anorientation with respect to said moveable surface, iii. a plurality ofcameras each having an orientation with respect to said movable surfaceand said range finder; and iv. a calibration box having a predefinedlength, width and height and a plurality of barcodes disposed inpredetermined relationships to at least one edge of said calibrationbox; b. capturing at least one image of said calibration box by saidrange finder; c. capturing an image of said calibration box by each ofsaid plurality of cameras; d. electronically detecting at least one ofsaid length, said width and said height of said calibration box fromsaid at least one range finder image; e. electronically detecting atleast one of said calibration box plurality of barcodes in each of saidplurality of camera images; and f. electronically calculating each ofsaid plurality of camera orientations with respect to said moveablesurface in response to information obtained from each of said pluralityof camera images.
 22. The method of calibrating a barcode scanningtunnel of claim 21, said step of electronically calculating each of saidplurality of camera orientations further comprises solving a pluralityof simultaneous equations using a non-linear optimization method,wherein each of said plurality of camera orientations with respect tosaid conveyor belt and said range finder is represented by at least oneof said plurality of simultaneous equations.
 23. The method ofcalibrating a barcode scanning tunnel of claim 19, wherein saidnon-linear optimization method is a Nelder-Mead method.
 24. A method ofcalibrating a barcode scanning tunnel, said method comprising: a.providing a scanning tunnel having i. a conveyor belt, ii. a rangefinder having an orientation with respect to said moveable surface, iii.a plurality of cameras each having an orientation with respect to saidmovable surface and said range finder, and iv. a plurality ofcalibration boxes each having a predefined length, width and height andeach containing a plurality of barcodes disposed in predeterminedrelationship to at least one edge of said respective calibration box; b.capturing a plurality of images of each of said plurality of calibrationboxes by said range finder as each of said plurality of calibrationboxes move along said conveyor belt; c. capturing a plurality of imagesof each of said plurality of calibration boxes by each of said pluralityof cameras as each of said plurality of calibration boxes move alongsaid conveyor belt; d. electronically detecting said length, said widthand said height of each of said calibration boxes from said plurality ofrange finder images; e. electronically detecting in each of saidplurality of camera images of each of said plurality of calibrationboxes at least one of said calibration box plurality of barcodes; f.calculating the relationship of each of said detected barcodes withrespect to said at least one edge of said respective calibration box;and g. electronically calculating each of said plurality of cameraorientations based on said calculated relationship of each of saiddetected barcodes with respect to said at least one edge of saidrespective calibration box and its respective said predeterminedrelationship.